And They All Lived Happily Ever After
by sweeet-as-honey
Summary: AU based on various fairy tales where most of the characters are teenagers. Zoe is looking forward to spending time with Cal at Ethan's party - she just wishes Max would stop following her around. Lofty and Robyn are hoping this will be the night when the men of their dreams, Dylan and Ethan, finally fall in love with them. Nearly all current/recent characters feature.
1. Chapter 1

_This story is based on a bit of homework I did when I was about fourteen. We were asked to write a modern version of a fairy tale. I think I got a D for this effort. I was told it was too long (more like 13,000 words than 3,000), too rude and that I was only actually supposed to rewrite one fairy tale. I kind of stopped bothering with school after that. (Not just because of that, but that was their general attitude every time I started to show enthusiasm for a subject.)_

 _But I never really thought this story was quite as bad as my teacher said, so I've changed the names of the characters so they're all Casualty characters and added various minor roles for other characters. I've kept the plot and most of the writing._

 _I hope you like it more than my teacher did._

* * *

"I've changed my mind," said Lofty Chiltern. "I'm not going."

Lofty, Zoe Hanna and Robyn Miller were watching the school basketball team, but when Lofty made his announcement, not even the fine selection of male bottoms on the school basketball court could hold their attention. Not even when Jack Diamond made a big show of wiggling his bottom as he applauded a goal from Jez Andrews. Jez ran over and kissed him.

Lofty sighed. If only he had the courage to be openly gay like Jack and Jez.

"Lofty, you have to go," said Zoe. She was slightly annoyed, although not surprised, that she had to explain this to Lofty all over again. "Everyone's going to be there."

Robyn nodded earnestly. "Please come. It won't be half as good without you, Lofty."

"Besides," said Zoe, "I thought Dylan asked especially if you were going to be there."

"He did," said Lofty, unable to help smiling at the mention of Dylan's name. "But he really only wanted to know if my sisters were going."

Zoe shook her head dismissively. "He doesn't fancy those ugly slappers."

Connie and Louise Chiltern were actually rather beautiful with their dark hair, attractive curves and impossibly long and shapely legs (not to mention an impressive array of footwear, though Zoe insisted she wasn't jealous), but as Connie's ex, Jacob Masters, knew to his cost, Connie and Louise's beauty was only skin-deep.

"Of course Dylan doesn't fancy your sisters," said Robyn. She grabbed hold of Lofty's arm. "He likes YOU, Lofty. I KNOW he does."

"Robyn, be quiet! I don't want the whole floor to know I'm gay." Lofty glanced round worriedly, but the corridor was empty. "Dylan's straight, anyway."

"Dylan is so not straight," said Zoe. "Have you seen those shirts he wears?"

Lofty had seen them. He'd had many fantasies about tearing them from Dylan's fit body. He sighed. "Even if he's gay, it doesn't mean he fancies me. He could have any girl in the school, and probably half the guys too."

"Dylan? Any girl in the school?" Zoe laughed. "He's a nice guy when he's not biting your head off, but… no."

Lofty had to admit he liked the idea of going to the party and seeing Dylan, but what if he saw Dylan dancing with a girl? Or a guy: maybe that would be even worse. "I can't go. I wish I could, but it's different when you're not out."

"You're going," said Zoe. "If you want to ignore Dylan all night, that's up to you. But if you won't go, Robyn won't go, and that could ruin her chances with Ethan."

"But I don't have any chances with Ethan," said Robyn, "so me and Lofty might as well stay at home and do each other's hair."

"Oh, you two!" said Zoe in exasperation. "Don't you have any self-confidence between you?"

"Ethan did invite you especially," Lofty reminded Robyn.

"He invited our whole year," said Robyn. "He even invited Lily Chao and everyone knows she never goes anywhere."

"He didn't ask the whole year," said Lofty. "It was those prats he hangs out with who did the invites. The only person Ethan invited in person was you."

Zoe smiled in satisfaction. "Yes, so you can't let Robyn down now, Lofty, can you? It's not as though I'm going to be around to look after her. I'll have other things to do."

"Do you mean you've got a date?" said Lofty.

"There's no need to sound so surprised," said Zoe.

"So, tell us who he is," said Robyn. "Do we know him? Does he go to our school? What's he like?"

Zoe sighed. "What is this: twenty questions? Do you want to know what kind of shower gel he uses too? Not that I know what kind of shower gel he uses," she added quickly.

Robyn's face fell. "I just thought we could give you advice and stuff."

Zoe patted her shoulder kindly. "That's a nice thought, Robyn. When you've actually been on a date – _with Ethan_ – I'll listen."

"I know about going on dates," said Robyn. "I've read about it in magazines."

"I know you have, Robyn, but Zoe knows what she's doing," said Lofty. "She's been out with millions of guys."

Zoe looked pained. " _Millions?_ "

"Hundreds? Is that better? A healthy high average anyway." Lofty quickly moved on to less offensive matters. "So, who is he? Anyone we know?"

"He's in Year 13," said Zoe. "But it's not really a date. Cal just said that maybe he'd see me at the party, and I intend to see there's no maybe about it."

The appalled silence wasn't the response Zoe was hoping for, but she couldn't say she was surprised.

"Cal?" Robyn said at last.

"Not – _that_ Cal," said Lofty.

Zoe sighed. "Do you know any other Cals?"

Robyn opened her mouth.

"As in Cals I'd be seen dead with," said Zoe.

Robyn closed her mouth.

"And, if the rumours are true, Zoe," said Lofty, "you just might be seen dead with him."

"Rumours. Exactly," said Zoe. "Rumours aside, what's Cal actually done? Besides hanging round and looking dodgy."

"He got into a fight with that guy whose car he tried to steal," said Lofty.

Zoe sighed. "He thought it was his dad's car. He thought the car owner was trying to steal it. And who hasn't been in a fight? Apart from you two."

"Ethan," suggested Robyn with a smile.

"Even Ethan's been in a fight if you ignore the fact he didn't fight back," said Zoe.

Robyn stopped smiling. "Poor Ethan." Her voice shook. "Why would anyone do that?"

"Robyn, it happened two years ago," said Zoe. "You didn't even fancy him then."

"But why…"

"Because he's a geek," said Zoe. "I know that's not a good reason, but that was why."

Lofty put his arm around Robyn. "But he's fine now, Robyn. He doesn't even remember."

"Are you sure?" said Robyn. "I don't think I'd be able to forget if six Year 10s knocked me unconscious and stole my limited edition signed copy of Guy Self's autobiography and sold it for £5000 on eBay."

"He had concussion," said Lofty. "He only remembers the part about eBay. And I'm sure it was only £500."

Robyn looked at Zoe. "Wasn't Cal one of the guys who attacked him?"

Zoe shook her head impatiently. "That's just a rumour. He wasn't even at our school then. He was still in the juvenile detention facility. Leave the poor guy alone. No wonder he skulks about like a stalker if people go around spreading rumours like that."

Lofty spoke tentatively. "We're just telling you to be careful. We're not telling you not to see him. For one thing, we know it's a complete waste of time telling you not to do anything."

"You're right about that," said Zoe with a smile. "So, let's talk about something more interesting, Lofty. Like what you're going to wear to Ethan's party."

Lofty mumbled something about jeans and a t-shirt, but neither of his friends looked impressed.

"I could lend you something," said Robyn. "What about that dress I wore to your 15th?"

Lofty was silent. He liked Robyn's dress a lot, and they all agreed it suited him better than Robyn, but… to wear it to a party? With people other than his friends there?

"No-one would recognise you," said Zoe. "The lights will be dimmed, and most people will be drinking, and you'll have loads of makeup on."

"We could say you're our friend Benjamina," said Robyn. "Come on, Lofty. You'll have a great time."

"Well…" said Lofty.

"So that's decided," said Zoe. "I'll lend you some shoes as we're the same size. You'll need to come over extra early because you'll have lots to choose from! I don't have any hair extensions in your colour, but…"

"I have," interrupted Lofty. "I bought them on eBay with Louise's debit card."

"That was so clever of you!" said Robyn. "I hope you didn't get into any trouble."

Lofty gave a nervous smile. "Not yet. But if she does find out and she does kill me, at least I won't have to go to the party and embarrass myself in front of Dylan."

"Oh, I'm sure she won't kill you," said Robyn comfortingly. "She'll be much too busy enjoying torturing you. But seriously, well done on getting the extensions. Wasn't he brave, Zoe?"

"It's a start," said Zoe. "But one day, I _will_ make you go into Accessorize and buy something in person."

Lofty looked like he'd quite like to throw himself out of the window.

There were worst places to land than on top of the basketball team, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

_Just to be clear, Cal and Ethan aren't brothers in this story. Robyn and Max aren't step-siblings._

 **X-Sammii-X** , Zoe and Cal are a new pairing for me too. They suited the fairy tale characters they're representing - I doubt i would ever have thought of it otherwise! I've never seen Ethan and Robyn together either, though I can see it working. Ethan doesn't seem like the type for fighting, but he has punched Cal a few times! Thank you for your review.

 **Tanith Panic** , I don't know how I make the same characters original - I didn't know I did! - but it probably helps that these characters are a blend of the Casualty characters, the characters I created in my original story, and the fairy tale characters they're based on. Thank you for your review.

 **westlife4ever80** , thank you for your review - I hope you'll enjoy this story. Lofty definitely does need to go. Luckily, I don't think Zoe will let him get away with not going!

 **EDSidekick** , thank you for your review. I'm so glad you disagree with my teachers. I haven't seen 10 Things I Hate About You, but I love Grease - Zoe could be Rizzo. I think Robyn is probably Frenchy and Lofty could be Sandy? I'm afraid this Cal isn't very good, but maybe he'll grow up one day. I hope your coursework goes well - if not, I take full responsibility!

 _Thank you to **FloraXHelier4ever** , **X-Sammii-X** , **Gingersnaps2507** and **EDSidekic** k for the follows and favourites_

* * *

"Are we going up to Ethan's form room, then?" said Robyn. "You said we could."

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "What do you need us for, Robyn?"

"Um – to distract his friends?"

"To hold your hand," said Zoe. "Okay. I suppose we've got nothing better to do."

"I don't want to talk to his mates, though," said Lofty. "Ash and Jacob are total animals. When I say hello to them, they just kind of grunt and growl at me."

"I don't know why Ethan hangs around with them," said Robyn.

"Ash and Jacob stop him from getting beaten up," said Zoe. "He does their homework."

Robyn gasped. "How do you know that?"

"Why else would they hang around together?" said Zoe. "It's not as though they've got anything in common." She looked at Robyn. "That's why he needs a girlfriend."

"I'm not getting into any fights!" said Robyn.

"Wouldn't you even do it for Ethan?" said Lofty.

Robyn considered. "I suppose I could learn T'ai Chi. That's not violent."

* * *

In the corridor leading to Ethan's form room, someone called Zoe's name.

Zoe turned to see Max Walker, a boy from the year below them. He spent a lot of time following Zoe around and was always asking her out, but Zoe preferred to set her sights higher. Max was too young for her and really not intelligent enough. Caleb Knight was much more her type.

"What do you want, Max?" said Zoe.

"I was wondering: were you going to Ethan's party?"

"Yes. I am. Why?"

"I was just wondering," said Max a bit nervously. "I just thought maybe… are you going with anyone?"

"I'm going with my friends…"

Max brightened. "Oh, well, in that case, why don't…"

"…and I'm meeting my date there."

"Who's your date?" said Max. He definitely looked disappointed.

"I don't think that's any of your business, do you?" said Zoe.

Max looked at the floor.

"But I suppose there's no reason why you shouldn't know," said Zoe, as she tucked her hair behind her ears for no apparent reason. "My date is called Cal."

Max's head jerked up. "Cal as in Cal?"

"That's his name," said Zoe.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Zoe?" said Max. "You know what everyone says about him."

Zoe gave him a tight smile. "Max, I'll give you a little tip. Just because 'everyone' says something, it doesn't mean it's true." She walked off. Max didn't follow, but Lofty and Robyn ran to catch her up.

"I think he likes you," said Lofty.

Robyn nodded. "I think so too. And he's quite nice. I mean, a lot of people believe those rumours about Cal. Not me, obviously, but lots of other people."

"I couldn't care less if he believes the rumours or not," said Zoe. "He can't go around telling me who I can and can't date. What's it got to do with him?"

They stopped outside Ethan's form room. "I've changed my mind," said Robyn. "Let's go back."

Zoe grabbed her arm. "Oh no. I haven't walked all the way up to the top floor in these shoes just so we can go straight back down again. Either you go in, or I'll go and talk to Ethan myself."

"All right, I'll talk to him," said Robyn. She took another step towards the classroom door. "What am I going to say to him? I could say 'hello', I suppose."

"That would be a really good start," said Lofty supportively.

Slowly, they walked into the room.

"You see?" said Zoe. "There was nothing to get so worked up about. He's not even here."

There was actually only one person in the room. Lofty smiled at her. "Hey, Lily. Are you going to Ethan's party?"

"I have better things to do with my time than to break the law and then forget all about it," said Lily Chao coolly.

"Oh, I don't know," said Zoe. "I'm always doing things I'm more than happy to forget."

Robyn thought it might be good for Lily to relax and have fun for a change. "You don't have to drink anything if you don't want to."

"I am busy," said Lily. "I am having private tutoring in GCSE biology with Ms Gardiner. David Hide will probably not be attending either as he has tutoring after me."

"Come on, Lily. It'll be fun," said Lofty. "You and David should both come. David won't have to say anything: you can't really hear anything anyone says at a party. Besides, you don't need extra tutoring."

"I am having private tutoring as I am taking some of my GCSEs early," said Lily. "I find learning a lot more stimulating than a party. And judging from what I have heard about other, similar parties, you won't have fun either. These parties always go wrong. I don't know what Ethan is thinking."

"He might be thinking of getting a life?" suggested Zoe. "Maybe you should too."

"I am working on it," said Lily. "Medicine at Cambridge; a job in the dermatology department of Holby City Hospital; marriage by the age of twenty-six; promotion to registrar; promotion to consultant; three children; returning to work as lead clinician in my department. That is the life I am planning."

Lofty smiled. "That sounds great, Lily. I hope it works out for you. Dylan wants to be a doctor too." He felt himself blushing. He usually did when he mentioned Dylan's name.

Lily looked thoughtful. "Dylan would be excellent husband material."

Lofty stopped smiling abruptly.

"Dylan's got a dog," said Zoe quickly. "You're allergic, aren't you?"

"Dogs don't live forever," said Lily.

"No, but he might get another one," said Zoe.

Robyn had another nervous glance towards the door. "How about we come back at lunchtime?" She took a step towards the door, but the look on Zoe's face changed her mind.

"They'll probably be back in a minute," said Lofty.

"I understand they have gone to watch Caleb Knight perform an intimate act with Taylor Ashbie," said Lily disapprovingly.

Zoe stiffened slightly. "Cal and Taylor broke up ages ago. She likes men with money. Cal doesn't have any."

Robyn started to walk around the room in an effort to calm on her nerves. On table near one of the windows stood three cans of energy drinks. Robyn looked at them. "Ethan drinks energy drinks."

"Everyone drinks energy drinks," said Zoe.

"I do not," said Lily. "They are full of additives which, although relatively harmless alone, can cause adverse effects when combined. These effects can include cardiac arrest, tachycardia, seizures and caffeine poisoning. Such drinks additionally have an excessively high sugar content."

"I don't think Dylan likes them either," said Lofty. He wondered what Dylan would drink at the party. He fantasised about offering to buy Dylan a drink before remembering you didn't buy drinks at parties.

Robyn touched the first bottle. It was sitting in direct sunlight, and the metal sides were burning hot. The second was cold, as though it had only recently come out of the drinks machine. The third felt just slightly warm, as though it was held by someone not long ago.

"Are you trying to pick up some Essence of Ethan or something?" said Zoe. She made a face. "Maybe we _should_ go."

Robyn picked up the warmish coke can and looked at it closely. She knew it was Ethan's. She just knew it.

"I don't believe it!" said a loud voice. A moment later, Honey Wright had stomped into the room. "I don't believe we walked all the way down them stairs for nothing. Can you believe it, Ethan?"

"I… um…" said Ethan Hardy uncomfortably as he followed Honey into the room, flanked by Ash and Jacob. Robyn guessed it hadn't been Ethan's choice to go and see what Cal and Taylor were up to.

They made an odd threesome ( _not that I think they actually have threesomes!_ thought Robyn). Martin Ashford (known as Ash) and Jacob Masters were tall and muscular and gregarious, though they did have a tendency, along with many teenage boys, to talk in grunts and growls. Ethan was small, very shy and the most gorgeous boy Robyn had seen in her life.

"What happened, Honey?" asked Lofty sympathetically.

Honey threw herself into one of the chairs. "That lunatic Jack Diamond, right, he comes racing in here to tell us Cal Knight is behind the bike sheds with Taylor Ashbie. So we all go running down there, but it weren't Cal and it weren't Taylor. It was just Mercedes Christie selling these well funny-looking sweets to Louis Fairhead. She's way overcharging for them too. Jack and Jez were going to stay and buy some, but we saw Big Mac coming so we all like, scarpered except for that silly cow Mercedes. She says she's not scared of any assistant matron, but he's still like a teacher, isn't he? And I don't want him telling my dad I was hanging round the bike sheds."

Honey's dad, Mr Garcia, was the school receptionist so it was very easy to report to him when Honey did something wrong.

"What a disappointment for you, Honey," said Zoe in a bored voice, though she was actually very relieved.

Ethan took a step towards Robyn and spoke without meeting her eyes. "Um, hey, Robyn. Can I, um, ask you something?"

Robyn blushed. "Of course you can, Ethan," she said, hardly able to believe that Ethan was really speaking to her.

"Okay," said Ethan. "Um, what are you doing with my energy drink?"

Robyn looked down, and took another sip before she realised what she's doing.

"You're drinking it," said Ethan.

"God, you're quick, aren't you?" said Zoe, but she looked nearly as surprised as Ethan.

Robyn was surprised too. She was drinking it. She'd actually picked up another person's energy drink and drank from it.

"You did leave then unattended," Lily pointed out. "It is your own fault."

"Yes. Yes, of course it is," Ethan told Lily's shoes.

The can fell from Robyn's fingers, and the remaining liquid began to spill out, making a little puddle on the floor. Robyn looked at it, remembering the time she'd made a little puddle on the floor in Year 3. She decided this was even more embarrassing.

Then she turned and ran from the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bonnie Sveen Fan** , thank you for your review. I'm glad you're enjoying this. It's nice writing something a bit different. I've never noticed a spark between Cal and Zoe before, but they both like drinking and one-night stands, so it could happen!

 **X-Sammii-X** , I can imagine Cal and Zoe being like this at school. If the ED has a bike shed, Cal has probably been behind it on numerous occasions! Thank you for your review.

 **EDSidekick** , I'm so glad you're enjoying it! You will meet Bad Cal very soon. Thank you for the idea about Lily - she wasn't going to come to the party, but I'm in the process of writing her into the story. Honey will be around too. Thank you for your review.

 **Tanith Panic** , thank you for your review. I don't think 'dogs don't live forever' is the best way to win Dylan's heart, but I'm glad you liked it! I'm afraid David won't appear as I can't imagine him at the party, but I wanted to mention him. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

 **westlife4ever80** , thank you for your review. I'm afraid things will keep on going wrong for Robyn, but most fairy tales have happy endings!

 _Thank you to TrekkieL for the follow and favourite._

* * *

Ethan's house didn't seem big enough to hold such huge crowds of people. They seemed to be everywhere. Of course, Ethan had invited the whole year, along with various people from other years, but no-one expected everyone to show up. For some of them, a party was a party. But a lot of people said they couldn't go because Ethan just wasn't cool enough.

"Hey, you three," said Alicia Munroe, who was standing near the door. It wasn't her house, but she liked making sure everyone was okay – which they probably wouldn't be after this party. "Everyone's taking their coats upstairs: second door on the left. Just throw them on the bed, but don't leave anything valuable in the pockets."

"Thanks, Alicia: we _couldn't_ have worked that out for ourselves," said Zoe, and marched Robyn and Lofty determinedly upstairs. "No, Robyn, you _can't_ go home. You can't judge a party by the first two minutes. No, Benjamina, there's _not_ millions of people here. There's only about fifty."

The bed was awash with coats. Zoe took off her hoodie, and threw it on top of the pile. The hoodie matched her dress, which was red and strapless and probably the most grown-up dress at the party.

Lofty's dress, borrowed from Robyn, was blue and sparkly. He'd insisted on wearing black tights underneath, and Zoe reluctantly agreed. After all, wearing a dress in public was a big step for him.

"Don't fold your arms like that, and remember to close your legs when you sit down," said Zoe.

"It's not that easy to close your legs when you-"

"Just do it, Benjamina."

Robyn's pretty purple dress made her look more like Year 3 than Year 10, but Zoe had agreed to let her wear it on the grounds that it probably wouldn't take much to shock Ethan.

"Put your shoulders back, and don't talk to people's feet," Zoe instructed her. "Not even Ethan's." Then she smiled. "Any advice for me?"

"Be careful!" Robyn and Lofty said together.

"I will be," said Zoe.

They went out onto the landing, Lofty walking with little mincing steps so he didn't fall of his high-heels, and Robyn with her shoulders thrust so far back, she looked like she'd had a boob job.

"Maybe not quite that far back," said Zoe, readjusting her. "Not until Ethan's got a few drinks inside him, anyway."

They were about to go downstairs when they heard a strange noise coming from one of the bedrooms. Sort of grunting and panting.

"What's that noise?" said Robyn.

"It's probably best if you don't think about it," said Zoe.

"Oh, Iain!" said a voice from the bedroom.

"Oh, yes, Rita!" said a second voice.

Robyn realised it must be Iain Dean and Rita Freeman from the sixth form. Perhaps Ethan had his own multi-gym and Iain and Rita were trying it out.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Can those two not keep their hands off each other for five minutes?"

Robyn gasped. "You don't mean they're…"

Lofty shook his head in disbelief. "You can't do that in other people's houses!"

* * *

In the living room, the music had been turned up to full blast and there were beer cans and buffet food all over the floor. Zoe tried not to worry about how Ethan would deal with it all in the morning. He'd probably never even been to a party like this before, never mind thrown one.

Zoe peered into the gloom, trying to locate Cal, but it was very difficult to recognise anyone in the dark, smoke-filled room. She was fairly sure not all the smoke came from tobacco. Zoe pulled out her own packet of fags and lit up, frowning slightly at the sight of Honey gyrating provocatively in front of Max. Zoe thought he was doing much too good a job of pretending to enjoy himself.

Not that it mattered to Zoe if Max went out with Honey. Max could do whatever – and whoever – he liked as far as she was concerned.

She turned her back on them.

Robyn started to cough. "I want to go home."

"So do I," said Lofty, fiddling with his long, curly hair extensions. They looked quite realistic in the dark, and the dress had looked great in Zoe's mirror, but he was suddenly positive he looked dreadful.

"You both stay right where you are," said Zoe. "Benjamina, you look beautiful. Better than me, and I hate you. Robyn, for the last time, Ethan wasn't cross with you for drinking his energy drink. He was probably a bit turned on. "

Both her friends looked doubtful.

"Okay. Maybe he thought it was…" Zoe paused to find the right word. "Cute."

Lofty nodded encouragingly. "He did drink what was left, so he can't have been that disgusted."

"He was probably thirsty," said Robyn. She looked around, caught sight of someone who might have been Ethan, and hid behind Lofty. "I'll die if he talks to me."

"You said you'd die if he didn't before," said Zoe.

"I'll die if anyone recognises me." Lofty moved further into the shadows.

"And I'll kill both of you if you don't stop stressing!" said Zoe. "Okay. I'm going to find Cal. You two go and look for Ethan and Dylan, and don't even think about going home. You'll be fine." She disappeared into the darkness.

"Shall we go home?" said Lofty.

"She'll kill us," said Robyn.

"We're going to die anyway," said Lofty. "But I think I'd rather die at Dylan's feet than get murdered by…" he stopped suddenly, and covers his face with his hands. "Oh my God. Dylan's coming!"

He was about to make a run for it, but Dylan Keogh looked so gorgeous, all Lofty could do was gaze at him.

"Hi, Robyn," said Dylan.

Lofty quivered. What if Dylan and Robyn went off together and leave him all alone?

Well, maybe he could hook up with Ethan. As Ethan had never been on a date before, it wasn't impossible that he was gay.

But Lofty only wanted Dylan.

Dylan was looking around. "Aren't Ben and Zoe with you?" He never used Lofty's nickname. That was another reason why Lofty liked him. He'd quite liked being called Lofty when he was five. He'd been proud to be the only person in his class who slept in a loft extension. But he thought he was getting a bit old for nicknames now.

Robyn started to shake with nerves. "Ben and Zoe? They're both here. They're just not… _here_."

Dylan turned to Lofty. "I don't think we've met before. I'm Dylan. This isn't my party, but Ethan's not really in a welcoming mood. He's too busy hiding from Honey and worrying why everyone's ignoring the No Smoking signs he made."

Lofty felt as though he was about to faint. It might be the smoke, of course, but he thought it was probably Dylan. If Lofty had a bosom, it would be heaving by now.

"Th-this is my friend Benjamina," stammered Robyn. She wasn't a very good liar.

"It's nice to meet you, Benjamina," said Dylan. "How about I dance with you while Robyn finds Ethan and tell him he's a useless host? He's hiding over there. In the corner."

Robyn considered. If she told Ethan he was a useless host, at least she wouldn't have to worry about thinking of something to say to him. But he might not like it if she said that. He was probably a brilliant host anyway.

She watched as Dylan led Lofty into the mass of swaying bodies. She was happy for Lofty, of course – _really_ happy - but she had no way of knowing if Ethan would be happy to talk to her or not. After the incident with the energy drink, he might prefer it if she kept out of his way.

Robyn made her way slowly across the darkened room, dodging the dancers, and tried to find a place where she could sit quietly until it was time to go home.

"Hey, Robyn," said Ethan.

Robyn would have run away, but her heels were too high. "Hey, Ethan. Um, great party."

"Great hair," said Ethan. "Um… I mean… I like your hair. It looks good with those blonde bits in. What do you call them?"

Robyn couldn't remember. Not when Ethan was looking at her. "Streaks," she said at last. Then she wished she hadn't said that because there was something else called streaking and it was quite naughty and she didn't want Ethan to know she was thinking about that.

"I'm so glad you could come," Ethan said shyly. "Would you like to d... I mean, um, sit down?" He gestured towards an empty chair.

Robyn sat down and tried to think of something to say. "I like these chairs. I've never seen chairs with arm-rests before. They're just like, so cool." _Unlike me._ "Oh my God! If you twiddle the arms, they go round in circles." She heard a cracking sound and jumped to her feet in horror, still holding the chair arm. "Oh my God! I've broken your chair!"


	4. Chapter 4

**westlife4ever80** , Dylan has no idea! He is a bit surprised to have met someone he likes as much as Lofty, but he hasn't made the connection yet. The kind of thing that happens to Robyn still does happen to me! Thank you for your review.

 **X-Sammii-X** , I do love Riain - I nearly made Zoe and Max's characters Rita and Iain, but Max's character seemed far more like Max. Maybe one day I could write a story about your other OTP - if I can have Ethan! Connie is one of Lofty's sisters, so she is at the party. She won't be in it much, but I do have an idea for bringing her into the story! Thank you for your review.

 **EDSidekick** , thank you for your review. I think Ethan's parents are going to be far from happy! I think Zoe can be a pushy madam as an adult too. I love that side to her. It would be funny if Dylan kept telling Benjamina how amazing Lofty is, but I think Dylan is finding Benjamina quite amazing too!

 **Tanith Panic** , I'm not going to argue about Ethan being adorable! I have to admit I like the idea of Lofty with a bosom. I haven't seen Once Upon a Time (which was very nearly the title of this story), but my Red Riding Hood is slightly inspired by Into the Woods and a film called Hoodwinked.

* * *

 **"** What are you doing out here?" asked a voice.

Zoe jumped, then tried to pretend she was just stretching. "I have every right to be out here, Max. Unfortunately, so have you." She turned away from him.

Max failed to disappear. "Are you having a good time then?"

"I was till you showed up," said Zoe. She felt a stab of guilt when she saw the hurt look on Max's face, but sometimes you needed to be honest. "You looked like you were having a good time too, with Honey."

Max looked awkward. "She wanted to make Ethan jealous. I said I'd help out. But he didn't actually seem to notice, so she's looking for David."

"David Hide?" said Zoe, startled. "Don't be stupid, Max. There's no way David could come here."

"Well, I haven't actually seen him myself," admitted Max. "But I have seen Lily."

"Lily Chao?" Zoe shook her head disbelievingly. "Do you really think I'm that gullible?"

Max looked uncomfortable. "I really do think it was Lily."

"You must have got her confused with someone else," said Zoe firmly. "Lily's not into having fun. Everyone knows that."

"Come with me and I'll show you if you like," said Max, holding out his hand.

Zoe nearly called his bluff – but then she remembered Cal. "Do you really think I have nothing better to do than follow you around?"

"Like what?" said Max. "Standing out here freezing to death? You've hardly got any clothes on!"

"I wouldn't have expected you to complain," said Zoe.

"I'm not complaining!" said Max. "Not at all. I think you look great. I love the shoes. I'm just worried you might be cold. So anyway, what are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for my boyfriend," said Zoe.

Max looked worried. "You're not meeting Cal out here, are you?"

"What: do you suggest I meet him inside where it's too loud to have a proper conversation?" said Zoe.

"I'm serious, Zoe," said Max. "He's dangerous."

"Am I interrupting something?" said a smooth voice from behind them.

Max said nothing, which Zoe thought was something he should do more often.

"Get lost," Caleb Knight told Max, and he did. "That, Zoe, is the only way to deal with people like that."

"I do know that," said Zoe.

"Didn't look that way to me," said Cal, moving closer to her.

"It's not like I had anything better to do, is it?"

"I didn't come out here to chat," said Cal. He put his arms around her, and widened his eyes in what is presumably supposed to be a 'come to bed' expression.

He'd be lucky.

"Don't look at me like that," said Zoe. "It makes your eyes look abnormally big."

* * *

The third dance ended, but Dylan didn't show any signs of wanting to sit down. As the next song began, Lofty realised with terror and happiness that it was a slow song.

"Okay?" said Dylan. He held out his arms.

Lofty hesitated. He might look like a girl on the outside when it was dark and when Dylan had had at least one drink, but he was sure he didn't _feel_ like a girl. If he let Dylan put his arms around him, he'd know the truth at once.

"You don't have to," said Dylan quickly. He actually looked disappointed. "There must be lots of other people you want to talk to." He put his hand on Lofty's arm. "But perhaps we could talk later, Benjamina?"

Lofty saw the hope in Dylan's eyes and felt his skin quivering beneath Dylan's fingers. "Dylan, I'd love to dance with you. But I just don't know if I… I don't know how."

Dylan's face relaxed and he pulled Lofty close to him. Lofty tensed, but Dylan didn't pull away in horror. Instead, he ran his hands up and down Lofty's spine, and made him gasp out loud. "It's okay, Benjamina. I'll show you what to do. You'll be fine. You're a much better dancer than me. Have you noticed, girls can always dance better than boys?"

* * *

"Robyn, please don't go!" called Ethan.

Robyn went into the kitchen, but she knew he'd catch her. There were people everywhere and it was impossible to run in heels. She bumped into some people (one of whom looked like Lily, but that was impossible); tripped over others, and pulled away from more drunkenly wandering hands than she could count. She hid behind a kissing Louise and Ash, hoping Ethan would think she'd gone into the garden, but he found her almost straight away

"Robyn, it's okay," he said gently.

"Ethan, I'm so sorry. It was an accident," said Robyn, trying not to cry.

"I know it was," said Ethan. "I was there." He looked at her, his eyes full of concern. "It's okay."

"I'll pay for it," said Robyn. She wiped her eyes.

"Don't cry, Robyn," said Ethan anxiously. He reached his hand out towards her, then tentatively touched her arm. "I'll tell my parents it was me. I'm the only person who sits in that chair, anyway."

"I can't let you do that," said Robyn. "I'd really much rather tell them it was me."

Ethan shuffled his feet. "Really, Robyn, you don't have to do that."

Robyn looked up at him. "I don't want you to get into trouble."

"You'll get me into more trouble if my parents find out you were here."

"I don't understand," said Robyn, now feeling stupid as well as miserable. "Did your parents say you couldn't invite girls or something?"

Ethan didn't look any happier than she felt. "Well, kind of. My parents are away for the weekend. They don't actually know about the party. They just said Ash and Jacob could stay the night."

Robyn's mouth fell open. "Do you mean you're having a party without their permission?"

"Well… yes," said Ethan. "Lots of people do it, apparently. Ash and Jacob said my parents would never know about it. The only thing that's happened is you breaking the chair. And that's fine. That's absolutely fine."

Robyn stared at him in disbelief. "Ethan, I don't think me breaking the chair is going to be the worst thing that's going to happen."

"What else could happen?" said Ethan. "I don't like that people are smoking, but I don't think they'd actually set fire to anything. By the way, have you seen Zoe?"

"Zoe?" gasped Robyn.

Ethan liked _Zoe_?

"Yes, your friend Zoe," said Ethan. "I'd like to talk to her. She is here, isn't she?"

"She's probably outside with Cal," said Robyn, hoping that would put him off.

"Not… _that_ Cal?" said Ethan.

Robyn nodded.

"Well… okay," said Ethan. "I'll see you later if Cal doesn't punch my face in. But don't worry about the chair, okay? It really doesn't matter at all."

* * *

Zoe was so engrossed in the kiss, she didn't see Ethan coming. When he said her name, she turned to glare at him. "Can't you see we're busy?" she said crossly.

Ethan looked suitably chastened.

Zoe sighed. "Don't tell me. You need me to go to the off-licence."

"If it's not too much trouble," Ethan said meekly. "I'm sorry to be a nuisance, but they won't serve Ash and Jacob at the off-licence since they started a fight in there and I can't find Iain. I don't know why we need more alcohol because we had ten whole bottles of wine and fifty cans of beer, but Jacob said it's nearly all gone. Maybe some of it got spilled by accident. "

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Maybe it did. Well, as I'm sure you noticed, Ethan, I was busy…" She turned to smile at Cal. He wasn't there. "But I'm not busy now. I'll just go up and get my hoodie. It's miles to the off-licence and I'm not going to freeze to death just so you and your mates can get paralytic. Have you got the money?"

* * *

"So, what school do you go to?" Dylan asked Lofty. It wasn't exactly the most original chat-up line Lofty had heard in his life, but he was just thrilled Dylan was chatting him up at all.

"The same school as you," Lofty said after a slight hesitation.

Dylan smiled. "That's lucky. Although I don't know why I haven't seen you before."

Lofty gave a nervous laugh. "I don't dress like this at school."

"I'm sure you still look beautiful," said Dylan.

Lofty wished he could be sure Dylan meant what he was saying. He didn't usually say nice things unless he meant them, but maybe he was a very good actor. And although he seemed sober, he might have had quite a lot to drink.

"Benjamina," said Dylan, "I'd really like to see you again. But I understand if you don't want to see me."

"Of course I want to see you!" said Lofty. "But…"

He was silenced by Dylan's kiss.

"I don't know if you really want to do that," Lofty said sadly when he'd got his breath back.

Dylan looked upset. "Have you already got a boyfriend? I suppose I should have asked you that."

"I haven't got a boyfriend," said Lofty. "But… I don't think I can really…"

Dylan sighed. "I thought you liked me."

"I do like you," said Lofty. "It's just…"

Dylan searched Lofty's face. "What?"

Lofty couldn't say it. "If you saw me at school," he said at last, "I don't think you'd like me."

"Of course I would," said Dylan. A thought seemed to strike him. "Do you mean you're a Year 7 or something? That wouldn't bother me. That's four years younger than me, but you're very mature for a Year 7."

"I'm in Year 10," said Lofty. He took a deep breath but his nerve failed him. "I can't tell you now. Not here. But I think you should wait until you've seen me at school before you decide if you like me."

"I've already decided," said Dylan.

Lofty pushed his curly hair extensions aside, and removed one of his small, blue earrings. Until this evening, he'd only had one ear pierced, but Zoe had done the other one for him with an ice-cube and a safety-pin. "Take this. I'll be wearing the matching one when you see me again." He got to his feet. "Will you tell Robyn I've gone home?"

"Of course," said Dylan, "but you don't have to go." He took Lofty's hand.

"I do have to go," said Lofty. He squeezed Dylan's hand, then let go. "I promised my parents I'd be home by midnight."


	5. Chapter 5

**X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review. That's interesting about Cal and Zoe - both struggle with relationships, but they do have certain needs. Friends with benefits would dispense with the first and cover the second! When I first read about Dylan and Lofty, I was a bit surprised, but they are cute!

 **Guest** , I don't want to give anything away, but I really hope you'll continue to read and find out how things develop for Zoe. Max will be back in Chapter 6. Thank you for your review - I really am happy you're enjoying it.

 **westlife4ever** , thank you for your review. I'm glad you like Dylan and Benjamina. There will definitely be drama and fairy tales usually do end well - at least for the good characters.

 **EDSidekick** , I'm afraid bad Cal is quite a shadowy figure at this point, but there's another glimpse in this chapter. I'm afraid this chapter is a bit short on naive Ethan and Benjamina, but I hope you'll still enjoy it! Thank you for your review.

 **Tanith Panic** , there's another fairy tale in this chapter, so I hope it won't get swampy! Zoe doesn't listen to advice as an adult, so what's the chance when she's a teenager? You can take some of the credit for Ethan's Baby Bear brilliance! Thank you for your review.

* * *

"What are you doing, walking about on your own at this time of night?" asked a smooth voice behind Zoe.

Zoe jumped. This time, she thought she was rather more success in turning it into a sexy swivel. "If you'd stuck around, Cal, you'd know exactly why I was doing this."

Cal leered at her. "I could come with you if you wanted."

"I'm sure you don't need my permission," said Zoe.

Cal fell into step behind her. "You know," he said conversationally, "most girls wouldn't dare be alone with me at night."

"Oh, come on, Cal," said Zoe. "You're not _that_ scary." But she thought she was probably trying to convince herself more than him.

Cal smiled. "It's good to meet a girl who doesn't believe all those rumours about me."

"Why would I pay any attention to rumours?" said Zoe.

Cal stopped walking and waited till she'd turned to face him. "A lot of people do, you know. And maybe you should too. At least one of them's true."

"Oh, yeah?" said Zoe. "Which one's that, then?"

"I really do bite."

* * *

Robyn felt even more miserable when she saw Dylan. Not only was her love-life a mess, it looked like Dylan had abandoned Lofty.

"Benjamina asked me to tell you she's gone home," said Dylan with a big sigh.

"Oh no!" said Robyn. Was it really that late already? And why had Lofty gone without her? He'd said she could stay the night at his house, as that's where her parents thought she was anyway.

Dylan leaned against the wall beside her (Robyn didn't dare go near any more chairs). "I hope I didn't upset her."

"I'm sure you didn't," said Robyn. "Benjamina's parents are really strict about parties. They said she had to be home by midnight and that's how it's got to be."

"I don't blame them," said Dylan. "She's beautiful."

Robyn cheered up slightly when he said this, but then she remembered the state of her own love life. It seemed like hours since Ethan had gone to find Zoe. She peered into the darkness of Ethan's living room, but she couldn't see him. She could, however, see the broken chair. "I think I'll go home too."

"No, don't go," said Dylan. "Ethan would be really upset if you went early."

"Why?" said Robyn. "I've done nothing except drink his coke and trash his furniture."

Dylan looked startled. "You did what?"

Robyn told him the story of her non-relationship with Ethan. "Have you really not heard about it? Ash and Jacob are so drunk, they've even told _me_ about it."

"I don't pay much attention to gossip," said Dylan. "But I do pay attention when one of my friends tells me he really likes someone."

Robyn could hardly hear him over the music, so she just nodded.

"I mean Ethan," said Dylan.

"What about him?" said Robyn.

"Ethan is my friend."

"What? Since when? I thought he was mates with Ash and Jacob."

Dylan smiled. "Ethan and I are studying first aid together. He's a really nice boy. I might have been interested in him myself if he hadn't been so interested in… someone else."

"What? You fancy Ethan?" gasped Robyn. "Do you mean you're…"

"Well, I-" Dylan began.

Someone grabbed Robyn by the shoulders. "Great party!" slurred Lily. "Have you seen Ash? I want to dance with him."

Robyn stared at her in amazement. She thought at first she'd made a mistake, but it was definitely Lily.

At a party.

Drunk.

Robyn surreptitiously pinched herself and then squeaked.

"I'm sorry: was that your foot?" said Dylan, though he didn't sound overly bothered.

"No, I'm fine," said Robyn, and turned to drunk-Lily, who was breathing alcohol fumes all over her. "Sorry, Lily. I haven't seen Ash. Why don't you go and find Alicia? She's very organised. She probably knows exactly where Ash is." Luckily, Alicia also had the sense to try to convince Lily to stay away from him.

"I hate Alicia!" said Lily, leaning hard on Robyn's shoulder. "She thinks she's so great with her pink hair and her pink stethoscope and her perfect parents. Did you know she made Ethan a cake? At least, that's what she said. You can get four for a pound in the supermarket that look just like it."

"Why don't you have a drink of water, Lily?" said Dylan. "You know how dehydrating alcohol can be."

"Wine," said Lily, as she walked unsteadily away from them. "I need wine."

"That's the last thing you need," said Dylan, but Lily wasn't listening. He turned back to Robyn. "Come on. Let's go somewhere quieter."

They went into the kitchen, but there seemed to be a group sex act going on in the kitchen involving Connie, Louise, Ash and Jacob (either that or they'd all passed out on top of one another).

On their way out, they met Honey. "Robyn, where's Ethan? I've been looking like, all over the whole house and I can't find him."

Robyn wasn't sure what to say. She knew Honey liked Ethan and she would probably be really upset if she knew Ethan was with Zoe. "I don't know, Honey. I'm sorry. I haven't seen him for a while."

"Do you think maybe he's gone home?" said Honey.

Dylan sighed. "Considering this is his home, I think that seems unlikely, don't you?"

"Oh, Dylan, you're so clever," said Honey. "Do you like lapdances? Maybe if I give you one, Ethan will get jealous and realise how much he loves me."

"Or perhaps he'll think you have loose morals and you're utterly beneath him," suggested Dylan.

"But I want to be beneath him!" said Honey. "Though I do want to be on top of him too."

Robyn tried not to look shocked. Not that the idea of being beneath or on top of Ethan was completely repulsive. As all her daydreams about Ethan included marriage and six kids, it was completely natural that she wanted things like that to happen eventually.

"Perhaps, Honey, you could confide these details to someone who actually cares?" suggested Dylan.

Honey pouted. "I was going to tell David, but he's not here. I like David. He never interrupts me with rude comments like _some people_." Then her face lit up. "I know! I'll go and find Lofty! He's just so like, _sympathetic_."

Robyn eagerly watched Dylan's face in the hope that he'd look upset by the idea of Honey talking to Lofty, but he didn't show any emotion at all.

Dylan was so annoying sometimes.

Honey tried to stalk away with dignity, but she wasn't steady enough on her feet for that and walked into the wall. Once Robyn had made sure she was okay, she turned back to Dylan, hoping he'd finally say what was on his mind, but at that moment, Jack and Jez stumbled into the hall, their arms around each other as Jack sang 'My Funny Valentine _'_ in a tuneful but very loud voice.

"All right, this is a party, so I accept there will be times when I can't hear myself think," said Dylan. "I just wish everyone would refrain from inflicting on me their complete and utter absence of thought."

"How about we go upstairs?" said Robyn tentatively. It was very difficult to talk down here, but she was worried there might be even scarier things going on upstairs.

Dylan looked unenthusiastic, but he nodded

Halfway up the stairs, they met Rita and Iain. Rita was wearing a skimpy nurse's outfit complete with a hat. Iain was in army gear and was carrying a toy gun (at least, Robyn hoped it was a toy). Robyn thought they looked great… except for one thing.

"Um, Rita, I think your dress is inside out," said Robyn, blushing.

"I wonder how that happened," said Rita, with a sultry look at Iain that seemed to make him quite excited.

"Stand still and I'll take it off," said Iain.

Rita slapped him playfully. "Not here! Let's go back to the bedroom."

"You do know if I take it off, it will be a while before I put it back on again?" said Iain.

Rita giggled. "I know! But that's okay. I feel like I could sleep with you for a hundred years!"

Iain looked a bit worried. "Didn't Sleeping Beauty feel a little prick before she went to sleep? I don't think I can really help you there, Rita."

"No, I suppose you're all wrong for that sort of thing," said Rita. "Why don't you get Ethan?"

"Ethan?" said Iain in disbelief. "You want _Ethan_?"

Robyn very nearly told them Ethan would be no good for that purpose at all, but she managed to stop herself just in time. It really wouldn't be a good idea to say that and it wasn't as though she actually _knew_.

"I'm joking," said Rita. "What does size matter?" They ran back upstairs and it wasn't long before they were gasping each other's names again.

Dylan gave their bedroom door a distinctly unimpressed look and knocked on the one next door.

Taylor Ashbie opened it. "Hey, Dylan. Did you want to come in? It's okay. Me and Louis have finished now. I was just giving him a-"

"I'm not interested in details," said Dylan. "All I'm interested in is having somewhere to be alone with Robyn."

Taylor stared at him in amazement. "You and _Robyn_? But my female intuition – and my female intuition is never wrong - says-"

"Your female intuition is clearly compromised by the amount of alcohol you've consumed," said Dylan. "And possibly not only alcohol considering your choice of companion."

Louis followed Taylor out of the room and tried to high-five Dylan, but he was clearly intoxicated with something or other and the movement caused him to fall over. But it was very unlikely Dylan would have high-fived him anyway.

"Come on, Louis. Up you get," said Taylor tenderly as she helped him to his feet. "And don't forget my drugs counselling sessions are £200 for half an hour. Any time that Mercedes gives you any trouble, just come and tell me."


	6. Chapter 6

**X-Sammii-X** , every fanfic needs a few villains! Taylor is a good person to have around if you want something bad to happen. I like Rita and Iain too, so it was sad to see what happened in last week's episode. Thank you for your review.

 **EDSidekick** , I'm sure Cal would say it's completely natural to find him sexy! And I'm not sure I disagree. I think Taylor seems a bit like a prostitute in the episodes too - she sleeps with Cal in order to get money out of him. I'll see if I can get Honey to pounce on Dylan for you later. I'm so glad you're enjoying this. Thank you for your review.

 **Tanith Panic** , Benjamina had to leave early to fit in with the fairy tale, but I am working on an idea to bring Lofty back as himself. It is a shame for him to miss all the 'fun'. I'm afraid there's a revolting bit in this chapter. Thank you for your review.

 _Thank you to **txnightalive** for the follow._

* * *

Robyn watched Taylor and Louis go and walked warily into the bedroom they'd just vacated. "Ewwww! Someone's been sick in the bin!"

Dylan didn't look surprised. "Ethan is lucky it's only in the bin."

Robyn checked the bed thoroughly before she sat down. "Ethan's parents are going to kill him, aren't they?"

"Probably," said Dylan. "I'm going to stay here and help him as I can, but there will be some things we can't hide."

"Like the chair."

"I'm sure that won't be the worst thing," Dylan said with a sigh. "The party was Ash and Jacob's idea, not Ethan's. He didn't think it would be this bad. No-one invites Ethan to their parties so he had no idea what it would be like. As no-one usually invites me either, I wasn't able to warn him." There was a smashing sound from somewhere downstairs. "Oh, no. That sounds like a window."

"Poor Ethan," said Robyn. "I hope he's okay."

"I'll go and find him in a minute," said Dylan. He sat on the bed beside her. "But quickly, tell me, how long have you known Benjamina?"

Robyn gulped. "Um, quite a while."

"I really like her," said Dylan.

"I… I'm sure she likes you too," said Robyn.

"I hope so," said Dylan. "But there's something she's not telling me. I don't mind: I mean, there are lots of things I have absolutely no intention of telling her. But it seems to be worrying her and I'd like to help."

Robyn wouldn't meet his eye.

Dylan looked at her closely. "Do you know what it is, Robyn?"

Robyn didn't like this at all. "Um, Dylan, I feel really dizzy. I'm going to lie down. I had some apple juice that tasted really funny. Nice but funny." She lay down on the bed and tried to look ill.

Dylan looked concerned. "That wasn't apple juice, Robyn. How much did you drink? Do you want the bin?"

"Ewwww, no!" Robyn jumped up in alarm, then remembered she was supposed to be feeling dizzy and flopped back onto the bed.

"I'll go and find Zoe," said Dylan. "Or Lofty, if he's still here, but I haven't seen him. Not that I've been looking for him."

"Lofty's not here," Robyn said without thinking. "Or maybe he is. I don't know. I haven't seen him. I don't know anything about him."

"I'll see who I can find," said Dylan. "You stay there. I would take you home myself but Ethan might need me to help with crowd control."

* * *

"Did you get it?" asked a voice from the shadows. Zoe was quite proud that Cal didn't make her jump this time.

"I got it," she said. It was close: the woman on the till had looked at her fake ID much too suspiciously for Zoe's liking. Zoe was quite offended to be asked for ID at all. She thought she looked well into her twenties. Maybe it was the hoodie that made her look younger.

She started walking, and Cal followed her. Without warning, he grasped Zoe's arm.

"What are you doing?" said Zoe, annoyed.

"Come here," said Cal.

Zoe shook her head. "There will be plenty of time for that after I've delivered the booze."

"There will be plenty of time for delivering the booze after I've kissed you," said Cal.

Zoe looked around. She wasn't scared of Cal and she didn't believe those rumours for a second, but the night was dark. There was no-one else about. She developed a sudden desire to hurry home.

"Where are you going?" Cal tried to hold her back.

"I've told you: I'm going back to the party," said Zoe.

"And I've told you: I want a kiss."

"And I've told you: you won't be getting one," said Zoe. She didn't know why she didn't want Cal to kiss her. She'd thought of nothing else for weeks. Except when she'd been shoe shopping, of course.

But she found she really didn't want Cal to kiss her.

Cal smiled. "I'm not getting a kiss, am I? I think you might be wrong about that." His hands gripped her shoulders, and his mouth moved towards hers. "Do you know what really turns me on, Zoe?"

"It doesn't matter," said Zoe. "It's not going to happen."

"I like to have my ears nibbled," said Cal.

"Well, I'm a vegetarian," Zoe said firmly, and tried to push him away. "You can let me go now, Cal."

"No," said Cal, laughing.

"Let her go!" said a new voice, and Max jumped out from behind a bush.

"Max? What are you doing here?" said Zoe.

Max looked embarrassed. "I followed you. I know I shouldn't have been worried about you, but…"

"You've got twigs in your hair." Zoe pulled a few of them out. He had soft hair: not stiff with gel, like Cal's. Zoe was surprised to find that Max was taller than her. He must have grown in the past few months. And (of course) she was wearing heels.

When she looked round, Cal had gone.

"He didn't hang about," said Max. He smiled. "It looks like Big Bad Cal might be scared of me after all! What was he trying to make you do?"

"Nibble his ear." Zoe made a face. "He's got the most horrible ears I've ever seen. Have you seen them? They're huge."

"He probably hasn't got anything bigger for you to nibble on," said Max, and Zoe surprised herself by laughing.

Then she tore her gaze away from his. "Let's go back to the party."

Max's eyes widened. "Do you mean together?"

"It would be a bit silly for you to crawl through the bushes again," said Zoe. "I'm sure you're a lot more interesting than Cal." She paused. "I think he must be the most boring person I've ever met."

Max smiled. "And I always thought that was me."

* * *

It wasn't until Lofty had got home that he remembered Robyn was supposed to be staying the night.

He'd had other things on his mind.

On the one hand, Dylan liked him. Dylan had _kissed_ him, Dylan had said he wanted to see him again.

On the other hand, he'd thought he was talking to a girl called Benjamina.

Lofty was relieved to find his parents were in bed. They wouldn't have minded that he was wearing a dress, but he had a feeling they wouldn't be quite so happy that he was trying to fool people into thinking he was a girl.

Lofty got out his phone called Robyn.

Robyn didn't answer. Lofty wasn't completely surprised. She probably wouldn't be able to hear it and as her phone was in her bag (dresses, as Lofty had discovered for himself, did not have pockets), she might not be able to feel the vibration either.

He tried calling Zoe, but it went to voicemail. She was probably busy with Cal.

Lofty unclipped his hair extensions and removed his dress. Then he found his make-up remover and took it into the bathroom.

Benjamina couldn't go back to the party, but perhaps Lofty could.

* * *

Robyn stared up at the ceiling, and thought about making a run for it. Dylan had been ages and she was positive an amorous and/or nauseous couple was going to burst in on her at any moment.

Then she discovered there was something worse than being disturbed by an amorous couple.

Being disturbed by one half of an amorous couple.

Robyn gasped and suppressed a scream as the door opened and someone charged in. When she realised it was only Jack, she relaxed slightly. She knew she wouldn't be Jack's type no matter how drunk he was.

But then Jack spoke. "Want to see my beanstalk?" he asked,. He placed his hand delicately on the front of his trousers and started to play with the zip. "I've got two magic beans. If you squeeze them, it makes my beanstalk grow."

"Oh my God!" gasped Robyn as the zip began to move downwards. She covered her eyes. "Jack… Jack, don't!"

Jack froze at the sound of her voice. He did himself up (to Robyn's great relief) and moved closer to the bed, peering at her. He screamed.

So did Robyn.

"I'm so sorry: I've made a giant mistake!" said Jack. "I thought Jez told me to meet him here. He said I could pluck his golden harp. I don't know what that means, but I think I'm going to like it. He must have meant one of the other rooms. Sorry, Robyn."

He departed.

Robyn lay down again. She thought about going somewhere else, but Dylan would never be able to find her. She wondered how long Dylan would keep searching for her friends. She doubted he'd find them. Lofty had gone home, of course, and Zoe was probably with Ethan.

Zoe, one of Robyn's _best friends_ , was probably with Ethan.

Robyn wanted to go home even more now.

She held her breath as she saw the door-handle turning. She hoped it was Dylan. If it was, she could tell him she was okay now (like she'd ever be okay again!) and then she could go home by herself and forget the party had ever happened. Or spend the next week crying over Ethan. One of the two.

The door opened.

"What are you doing in my bed?" said Ethan.

Robyn sat bolt upright. " _Your_ _bed_?" She had, of course, noticed she was in a bedroom. But somehow, the possibility that Ethan might sleep in there hadn't occurred to her.

Ethan was breathless and seemed upset – but he had just found someone in his bed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for Dylan," said Robyn.

" _What?_ " Ethan took a step away from her. "You and Dylan…?"

Then Dylan walked into the room. "What about her and Dylan? Ethan, are you all right? Listen, it's not that bad."

"I don't see how it could be worse," said Ethan. He gave Robyn a look of bewildered disgust, then sank down into a chair and put his head in his hands.

Dylan put his hand on Ethan's shoulder. "It's going to be okay. I'll help you sort it out."

Ethan shook him off. "Just go away, both of you, and leave me alone!"

Dylan said something about not leaving Ethan when he was upset, but Robyn didn't need to be told twice. She tripped over Ethan's bin on the way, but she didn't stop running until she was well away from Ethan's house.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" said Max.

"I'm fine," said Zoe with a mixture of exasperation and reassurance.

Max sighed. "You always are, aren't you?"

"Usually," said Zoe. She paused and decided she might as well say it. "But I was glad to see you, Max. Cal was really… boring me."

"I think he's a very boring person," said Max.

Zoe nodded. "I'm sure you saved me from some very boring kisses."

"I'm sure even I kiss better than Cal," said Max with a smile.

Zoe looked at him speculatively. "I'm sure you do." She stopped walking.

Max stopped walking too.

"Actually, Max," said Zoe, "I wouldn't normally admit to something like this, but…"

She stopped as someone came running up the road towards them. "Have you seen Robyn?" asked Dylan.


	7. Chapter 7

_I know the part about Lofty at the beginning couldn't happen, but humour me? Please?_

 **westlife4ever80** , thank you for your review - I'm really glad you like the story. I wasn't sure if it would work or not. Sometimes AU stories are loved and sometimes they don't get much response. On your toes is a very good place to be!

 **X-Sammii-X** , I think Dylan used to be married so he presumably liked his wife, but he hasn't showed any interest in anyone but Dervla since I've been watching! I think Cal would have to do a lot wrong to make us stop loving him! Thank you for your review.

 **Tanith Panic** , I think Cal would be flattered if someone said he was 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'! I wanted to mention a few more fairy tales and there was only one story for Jack! There's another revolting bit in this chapter. Thank you for your review.

 **EDSidekick** , thank you for your review. I have to admit I do like teasing people! I like Cal's ears really, but I couldn't resist. I'll see if I can get Honey to throw herself at a few people before she goes home. But I can promise there won't be any suicides. Probably.

 **Guest** , thank you for your review. I'm so glad you like how this story is turning out so far. You couldn't write a story about all the characters without having a bit of Zax!

* * *

Lofty looked in the mirror. In his jeans and shirt, without his hair extensions and make-up, he looked completely different from the 'girl' Dylan had danced with.

He didn't want to go back to the party. It had ended so perfectly (apart from the fact he'd had to leave) and he was terrified of what might happen when he saw Dylan again, but he was worried about Robyn.

He was a bit worried about Zoe too. She could usually take care of herself, but sometimes she got herself into a mess and needed help. Cal was definitely the kind of guy you might need help with.

So going back to the party was the sensible thing to do – but there was one problem.

He'd already tried going down the stairs twice. On both occasions, his parents had woken up and asked what he was doing.

The window seemed like the only option.

Lofty opened it and looked down. There was no way he could jump and there was no convenient creeper or drainpipe, as there usually was in books. All he could do was make some sort of rope. He'd read about people making ropes out of sheets, but Lofty knew his parents would have something to say if he tore one of his sheets up. Or even if a sheet mysteriously vanished. Parents always noticed things like that.

Lofty looked around the room and his eye fell on something. It wasn't ideal as it could break, which would mean not only that they'd be ruined after only one use, it was likely to result in a very painful landing.

But it was all he could think of and nothing was more important than Lofty's friends (and Dylan).

Lofty picked up the hair extensions. He clipped one to the other, then clipped the top one to one of his curtains.

Lofty climbed backwards onto his window sill and pulled on the hair. It seemed fairly solid. Very slowly and nervously, he began his descent.

* * *

Zoe sighed. Clearly it had been a mistake leaving Lofty and Robyn to manage without her. "I _hope_ Robyn's with Ethan," she told Dylan. "What do you want Robyn for anyway? Where's Benjamina?"

"Benjamina went home at midnight." Dylan did at least look disappointed when he said this. "Robyn ran off a few minutes ago. Ethan found her in his bed and she said she was waiting for me, which she was, but Ethan must have thought she was waiting for me so we could… it's a long story." He looked at the bag Zoe was carrying. "Tell me that's not more booze."

"Ethan asked me to get it," said Zoe.

"Ethan's changed his mind about the booze," said Dylan. "And the party." He sighed. "And Robyn. He even thinks she broke the chair on purpose now."

Zoe looked startled. " _Robyn_ broke a chair? My _friend_ Robyn? And she got into Ethan's bed? What has that girl been drinking?"

"Well, cider, I think," said Dylan.

"Ethan said there was only wine and beer," said Zoe, "but what does he know? It's only his party. Just tell me how Robyn managed to break a chair!"

"She broke the arm off, I think. But that's not the worst thing." Dylan waved tiredly towards the house. "Ash has smashed a window; Jacob has smashed the TV; there are two different couples having sex in Ethan's parents' bed – and I don't think they know about each other - and Lily's vomited all over Alicia. I _think_ it was an accident. Ethan's in his room, heartbroken over Robyn. I'd have thought that would be the least of his worries, but there you go."

"He should have known what was going to happen," said Zoe. "Do you remember when we went to that party at Iain's house and we ended up dancing naked in a thunderstorm, singing 'It's Raining Men' at the tops of our voices?"

"No," said Dylan, who almost certainly hadn't been there.

"I don't remember it either, to be honest with you," said Zoe. "That's just what Iain told me. I also can't remember the time me and Rita stole that shopping trolley and we fell out and had to go to the ED and ended up being treated by Louis Fairhead's dad."

"Oh, I remember _that_ ," said Dylan.

Zoe looked at him in surprise. "Were you there?"

"No, but you called me every fifteen minutes to give me an update on the volume of blood you'd lost," said Dylan. "It was incorrect, by the way. Otherwise, you would have been dead."

"I was drunk!" said Zoe. "My maths skills were probably a bit off. Anyway, have the police been called?"

"The neighbours on both sides threatened to call them if Ethan didn't keep the noise down," said Dylan.

"It doesn't sound very wild to me if they've only threatened it," said Zoe. She paused. "But if Ethan isn't happy, we'd better sort it out. Do you need some help? I'm good at getting rid of people who aren't wanted."

"She is. You should have seen Cal running away," said Max.

"Max, you're getting confused again," said Zoe. "It was you who made Cal run away,"

"You'd have made him go away if I hadn't come along," said Max.

They smiled at one another.

Max had a lovely smile. Nice teeth too. And lovely eyes and lovely ears and lovely…

"Perhaps you could stop dribbling over each other for a second and help me?" said Dylan pointedly.

"I wasn't dribbling!" said Zoe indignantly.

Max grinned. "I was!" He caught Zoe's glare. "But I'll stop now."

"Firstly, we need to make sure Robyn's okay," said Dylan.

"I'm sure she'll be…" Zoe stopped. "Oh God, Cal's skulking about out there somewhere. Not that I'll think he'll do anything except bore her to death but…"

"I can deal with that, Zoe," said Max. "You get on with ejecting the drunks."

* * *

"Hey, Robyn. What are you doing out on your own?"

Robyn knew that voice. She felt ice on her spine and she slowly turned to see Cal.

If Zoe was there, she might not have minded so much, but she wasn't there. It was just Robyn, Cal and the dark, dark night.

Or rather, it was Robyn, the dark, dark Knight and the dark, dark night.

"Why are you crying?" said Cal. He moved closer. "It's not because you're scared of me, is it?" He sounded as though he quite liked that idea.

"Don't flatter yourself!" choked Robyn. She decided she didn't much care if Cal murdered her. Ethan hated her so she might as well be dead. "I'm crying because my heart is broken and you needn't think you broke it because you didn't!"

Cal shook his head a bit sadly. "No, you've never been interested in me, have you? You've only ever looked at Ethan."

"Who?" said Robyn unconvincingly. "I mean, I do know who Ethan is and everything, but that doesn't mean I've been looking at him."

"What happened?" said Cal.

"I drank his energy drink and broke his chair and lay down on his bed!" wailed Robyn. "Um, not that I'm saying it's Ethan. Just someone."

Cal laughed. "Someone who happens to live in Ethan's house. Must be Ethan's dad then. Unless he's got a good-looking older brother I've never met."

"Yes… I mean no…" Robyn gave up on pretending. "What am I going to do? How am I going to get over it?"

The amusement faded from Cal's face. "I'm really not the best person to ask about that, Robyn. Not when I'm still not over Taylor."

* * *

Zoe and Dylan arrived back at Ethan's house to discover Honey having a very loud and tearful conversation on her phone.

"Dad, please come and pick me up!" she wailed between sobs and sniffles. "It's the worst party ever and I want to go home! I know you're having your boys' night in with Big Mac, um, sorry, I mean Mr Chalker, but I'm your daughter and my life has just like, ended! Ethan hasn't talked to me like, all night; Lofty and David aren't even here; Dylan wouldn't let me give him a lapdance, um, I mean a… a tap dance and Jez and Jack really are in a relationship! I thought they were just doing it to be fashionable! Then I, um, tripped over my shoes and _accidentally_ fell on Ash's lap and he didn't even try to grope me! Then Louise called me names and made me cry! Then I, um, I got really really scared because, um, there was a really funny noise and I thought it was a… a wildebeest or something and I completely _accidentally_ jumped into Jacob's arms and then Connie gave me this look and I was so scared, I literally died! I love Ethan so much and my heart is just completely like, broken, Dad. I want to go home!"

She listened for a while and started to cry even harder. Zoe could couldn't help thinking Mr Garcia would definitely agree to pick Honey up if she gave him a few more details about some of the things that were going on here.

"Okay," said Honey at last. "Thanks, Dad. I'll see you soon." Then she started howling again. As soon as she saw Dylan, she threw her arms around him. "Dylan, my life is literally over!"

Dylan was very tense. "I'm inclined to doubt that. Can you let go of me, please?"

"But you're so big and strong!" sobbed Honey, as she rubbed herself up against him. "You're just what I need, Dylan. A big, strong man."

"No, I'm actually very small and weak and not the least bit suited to your purpose," said Dylan. He tried to move away from her.

Zoe came to help him. "Honey. Leave Dylan alone or I'll tell your dad you were harassing him."

It worked like a charm.

Alicia, who had replaced her soiled dress with a coat that barely covered her, ran over and gave Honey a big hug. "It's okay, Honey. I'll look after you till you're dad comes. I'll tell you what: why don't we have a proper girly party soon with cake and hair straighteners and no boys at all! Except Jack because I know he'd love it. Come and sit over here with me and Lily. Lily's not very well so she's waiting for her dad too."

Lily, who had a bucket on her lap, was looking close to tears. "My father will be so angry with me. All I ever wanted was to make him proud and now I have done this!"

"You could tell him you were here to offer first aid!" suggested Alicia brightly. "Loads of people get ill at parties and there are often injuries too."

"And you can tell your dad your drink got spiked," said Honey. "That's what I tell mine!"

Lily looked shocked. "But that isn't true."

"Of course it's true," said Honey. " _Someone_ put alcohol in your drink, didn't they? Who cares if it was someone at the party or someone who works at the alcohol-making factory? They still put it in, didn't they?"


	8. Chapter 8

**X-Sammii-X** , Cal is awesome all over! Not that I've seen him all over. Not quite. I used to love Robyn, but I didn't think Robyn was very nice to David. I think Louise might be a bad influence. I quite like Honey too. Thank you for your review.

 **EDSidekick** , thank you for your review. I'm glad you liked the whole chapter! Considering how badly-behaved Zoe is as an adult, I couldn't see her as a well-behaved teen. I think things often seem worse than they are at that age, though I'd still be humiliated if it happened to me. I've got a couple more moments lined up for Honey before Noel comes to collect her.

 **Tanith Panic** , Cal was originally going to be frightening and hardly in it, but I decided that was a waste. Especially as I have so many readers who love Cal! I wanted to sneak Rapunzel into the story somehow. Thank you for your review.

 **westlife4ever80** , Robyn is having a really bad night and now she has a bad Knight to deal with too. I'm afraid things won't necessarily get any better. Honey is very naughty and she's not giving up yet! Thank you for your review.

* * *

Robyn had never expected to feel anything but terror when looking at Caleb Knight, but her heart was swelling with sympathy. "You're still in love with Taylor?"

Cal nodded sadly. "I don't know why. She told me there was some kid who needed a £15,000 heart operation. She wanted to make a donation, but she didn't have any money. She asked me to give her some money to cover it. But instead, I decided to surprise her by making the donation myself in her name and I printed off the special certificate saying 'Thank you, Taylor Ashbie, for your generous support'. I gave her the certificate and she never spoke to me again."

"I… um… I don't think that's really what she wanted the money for," said Robyn.

"I know that now," said Cal. "But I can't imagine getting close to anyone again. I don't want to make myself that vulnerable again. I don't want to be hurt again. But I also don't want to be alone."

"So you keep your relationships casual?" said Robyn. "You act all tough so no-one sees you as vulnerable? You pull away from relationships before you start caring enough to be hurt?"

Cal nodded. "I try not to hurt other people. I try to go for slappers because they're less likely to get hurt – and let's face it: Connie Chiltern, Louise Chiltern, Honey Wright, Zoe Hanna… they're not exactly ugly, are they?"

"Zoe's not a slapper!" said Robyn, glaring at him.

"As I said, I _try_ to go for slappers," said Cal, "but I have kind of run out now. So I did set my sights a bit higher with Zoe, but I don't really think she liked me. She liked the idea of this mysterious guy who drifted through life, giving nothing away, so I tried to live up to that image. But when it came to it, she didn't want me."

Robyn's glare lessened just slightly. "So, what are you really like, Cal?"

Cal sighed. "As Zoe said, I'm quite boring really. All I want is a girl to make me happy in the way Taylor made me happy. I don't think I'm ever going to find one."

"So, you're like a sheep in wolf's clothing?" suggested Robyn.

"I suppose I am," sighed Cal.

* * *

Zoe and Dylan were about to start throwing people out when Ethan appeared. His eyes looked swollen behind his glasses and his cheeks were tearstained.

"Hey, Ethan," said Zoe. "Don't worry. We're going to sort this out."

Ethan held up a shoe. "I found this in my bedroom. Is it yours? It's got a heel so I thought it might be."

Just for a moment, Zoe thought about saying yes. It was a lovely shoe. But then she remembered she had two feet, so it wouldn't be very much use to her. "No, it's not mine. But I'm sure we'll notice if someone's walking around with one shoe on."

"Almost certainly," said Dylan, as he took the shoe from Ethan. "It's not Benjamina's: I know that."

Ethan's lip wobbled. "It's not Robyn's either. Her shoes were gold to match her hair." His eyes sparkled with tears.

"Ethan, listen to me," began Zoe, but they were interrupted by Honey.

"Oh, Ethan, I've had the worst night ever!" she cried, and put her arms around him.

Ethan stopped looking tearful and looked terrified instead. "I… um… oh gosh… um... you don't happen to have lost a shoe?"

"Yeah, I lost one of my trainers I wear for PE," said Honey.

"Whilst I'm far from an expert on women's shoes," said Dylan, "I don't think this is a trainer."

"Ethan, you're shaking," said Honey. She ran her hands up and down his arms.

"I… um… oh my goodness… Dylan, what do I do now?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," said Dylan. He probably meant it too.

Honey touched Ethan's face. "Have you been crying, Ethan?"

"Yes!" said Ethan in a panic. "I'm a complete baby and really not your type at all."

"I think it's cute when men have emotions," said Honey.

"Oh, um, do you?" said Ethan. "Well, I-I don't have that many."

Zoe sighed. "Come on, Honey. Leave him alone."

Honey stroked Ethan's face. "I just want to look after him, Zoe. Don't you want to be looked-after, Ethan?"

"I… I… I… please could you maybe not do that?"

Honey let her hand travel down his chest. "Where would you like me to put my hands, Ethan?"

"I, um, um, behind your back?" said Ethan.

"Why?" said Honey. "Do you have handcuffs or something?" She put her hands behind her back.

"I-I-I no. I'm sorry. Excuse me." Ethan hid behind Zoe.

Dylan grabbed Honey's arm before she could make another move. "Honey, why don't you come with me?"

Honey looked delighted. "Really, Dylan? You mean you're straight now?"

"Not exactly." Dylan pushed her back into the chair beside Alicia. "Stay there and don't move. Alicia, Lily, I don't suppose either of you have lost a shoe?"

They both shook their heads, but at that moment, Connie and Louise appeared.

"Get your hands off my shoe, Dylan!" yelled Connie.

"No, it's my shoe!" shouted Louise.

"Don't you lie to me, Louise!" said Connie. She grabbed the shoe from Dylan, kicked off one of the shoes she was wearing and tried to force her foot into it.

"It's much too small for you, Bigfoot!" said Louise. "But if you're that desperate, I'll cut all your toes off for you. Then it might fit."

Connie shoved her, but Louise grabbed the shoe, kicking off one of her own.

"It fits! It fits!" crowed Louise triumphantly.

"It's much too big for you, Babyfoot!" said Connie. "This is a grown-up shoe and everyone knows you have to go in the kids' shoe shop because your feet are as tiny as your brain."

Louise grabbed a handful of Connie's hair. Connie tried to grab a handful of Louise's, but it was too short

"Louise puts cotton buds in her bra!" shouted Connie.

"Connie wet herself in Year 6!" countered Louise.

Connie glared at her. "I am suspending you from my friendship group until further notice."

"You do that and I'll suspend you from a flagpole until further notice!" said Louise.

"These sisters are getting ugly," said Dylan to Zoe.

Zoe agreed.

* * *

Robyn could hardly bear how sad Cal was looking. She couldn't help feeling it was partly her fault. "Come here," she said, and put her arms around him. Cal hesitated, then he put his arms around Robyn and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Why can't someone just fall in love with me?" said Cal.

"The Year 7s and 8s are all in love with you," said Robyn.

Cal sighed. "I can't go out with anyone that young. It's not right. Besides, they don't love _me_. They just love the image I project."

"Then maybe it's time to drop the image; shed the wolf's skin and show them the lovely man underneath?" suggested Robyn.

"But what about my street cred?" said Calindignantly.

"Maybe it's time to think about what really matters," said Robyn.

Cal thought for a moment. "I've got an idea. Why don't you be my girlfriend? We can't have Taylor and Ethan, so why not have each other?"

Robyn began to feel a bit uncomfortable. Maybe hugging Cal hadn't been quite such a good idea.

Then someone grabbed her from behind and dragged her away from Cal. "Robyn, are you okay?" asked Lofty anxiously.

He really was Lofty this time.

"I'm fine," said Robyn. "Cal and I were just bonding over being lonely and heartbroken."

"You can always come and bond with me instead," said Lofty. "I'm lonely and heartbroken too."

Robyn turned to Cal, but he wasn't there. He was skulking in the shadows. She shook her head. Why would anyone run away from Lofty? "Could Cal come with us? He's really not as bad as he wants us to think."

"I don't know what my parents would think about me sneaking boys into my bedroom," said Lofty. "A girl they could cope with, but not a boy!"

"Okay," said Robyn reluctantly. "I suppose you're right. I'll see you at school, Cal, okay?"

* * *

Zoe was trying her hardest not to show how glad she was to see Max. "Have you found Robyn?"

"No, but I spoke to her," said Max. After spending quite a lot of time wandering around looking for Robyn and finding only Cal (who'd run away from him again), he'd finally used his brain and phoned Robyn's mobile to find out if she was okay.

"And was she?" said Zoe.

"She's at Lofty's house. He was the one who answered her phone. He said she was a bit upset but otherwise fine."

Zoe looked surprised. "Only a _bit_ upset? Are you sure?"

"Well, I could hear her crying in the background, but she didn't sound _completely_ hysterical." Max looked at Zoe hopefully. "That's probably good, isn't it?"

"That's great," said Zoe, and didn't bother to hide her relief.

"And then," said Max, as though he was getting to the really good part, "the crying stopped and… where's Dylan?"

"Over there, cleaning up somebody's sick," said Zoe.

Max went over to him, but was stopped by Honey.

"Max, I've been looking for you everywhere!" she said.

"Obviously not," said Max. "Or you'd have found me, wouldn't you?"

Honey reached up, grabbed him by the head and planted her lips on his.

Zoe marched up to them and separated them. "Honey Wright, you get your hands off my boyfriend."

Honey got her hands off him. "Max is your boyfriend?"

"Max is your boyfriend?" echoed Max, looking far from unhappy with that idea.

Zoe realised she'd said too much. "He's a boy who's my friend. But he's under my protection and nobody gets to kiss him without my say-so. Okay? So go and sit down and wait for your dad or I'll have something very interesting to tell him when he arrives."

Max's face had fallen slightly at the 'boy who's my friend' part, but he thanked her all the same.

"You said you had something to tell Dylan?" said Zoe.

Max nodded and went over to him. "Dylan, I just spoke to Lofty on the phone."

"Is he all right?" said Dylan. "I didn't see him tonight. Not that I was looking for him."

"No: I hear you had eyes for only one person!" said Max, smirking. "I was talking to Lofty, and then Robyn asked Lofty to ask me to tell you Benjamina said hi."

Needless to say, Dylan was absolutely thrilled. He didn't stop smiling the whole time he was cleaning up the sick.

It was weird seeing him smile, but Zoe decided she liked it.


	9. Chapter 9

**EDSidekick** , thank you for your review. I'm glad you liked the Honey scenes - they wouldn't have existed without you! I was hoping the Cal and Robyn scene would be sweet, so you're definitely not wrong to think that. Cal wouldn't usually run from Max and Lofty, but he had to run away from someone!

 **westlife4ever80** , I think Cal is actually one of the most emotional people in Casualty! He would hate me saying it, but I'm sure he's cried the most since I've been watching it, though he has had good reason. Thank you for your review.

 **X-Sammii-X** , Cinderella is probably my favourite fairy tale too. I wouldn't have thought of putting Cal and Robyn together, but I read a story where they're a couple and loved it - which inspired me to make them a couple in one of my stories too. Thank you for your review.

 **Tanith Panic** , thank you for your review. I thought that might be where Ethan would prefer Honey's hands to be! Connie and Louise really weren't at their nicest. I could imagine Dylan just getting on with what needed to be done.

 **Guest** , thank you for your review. I'm really sorry, but I don't really want to give anything away about what happens in the end. All I'll say is that the story will have a happy ending for the main characters. I hope that's enough for you to keep reading.

* * *

"Has anyone seen my shoes?" said Rita. "We had to change rooms and we lost a few things."

"Rita's lost her panties too!" said Iain with a lascivious smile.

"Oh, grow up!" said Rita. "You know I wasn't wearing any."

"Yeah, but I thought you must have taken them off in the loo."

"No – I just never bothered putting any on," said Rita.

Iain seemed to be having trouble breathing. "Don't say things like that or we'll have to go upstairs again."

Dylan held out the shoe Connie and Louise had been fighting over until Ash and Jacob had dragged them away. "Is this your shoe?"

"No: wrong colour," said Rita. "But it could be anyone's. I don't think anyone upstairs has got any clothes on."

Zoe laughed. "I bet you're looking forward to going upstairs, Dylan!"

"I absolutely can't wait," said Dylan.

* * *

Zoe and Dylan spoke to every guest, but none of them admitted to owning the shoe. "It must be someone who's already left," she said. "I think I'd better take care of it for now."

"Yes, I suppose it might come in useful if you have your leg amputated," said Dylan.

"Or if I have my leg in plaster," said Zoe. "I might break my leg one day. You never know."

"Considering the number of drunken escapades you have in the average month, it seems more than likely," said Dylan.

Iain was pointing his gun at Taylor and Louis. "All right. Out you go."

"Is that loaded?" said Taylor.

"Keep talking and you'll find out!" said Iain.

Taylor laughed. "I'm not worried. I'm sure your nurse girlfriend will save my life."

"Yeah, you keep hoping," said Rita under her breath.

Taylor moved closer to Iain. "I was actually going to do a sponsored event, raising money for Help for Heroes. I don't suppose you'd be interested in sponsoring me?"

"Sure," said Iain. "Send me your justgiving page and I'll see what I can do."

"You can just give me the money if that's easier," said Taylor.

Iain laughed. "Yeah, I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you? Go on: you're holding everyone up."

Taylor started walking… only to stop when she came face to face with Cal. "Cal, I need some money."

Zoe waited for Cal to tell her to get lost, but he didn't. He was too busy staring at her.

"I need money for an abortion," said Taylor.

Cal went slightly pale. "Is it mine?"

"Probably," said Taylor. "But I don't want it."

Cal's voice shook. "How can you say that about your baby?"

"It's not a baby yet," said Taylor. "It's just a foetus. It's only about as long as your thumb."

"It's still a baby," said Cal. "And if it's part of me, then I want to take care of it."

"Fine," said Taylor. "I'll go through all the morning sickness and weight gain and the agony of childbirth, shall I? Just for you?"

"No," said Cal. "Do it for our baby."

Taylor made a frustrated sound and walked off.

Cal stayed where he was, a shocked expression on his face. Zoe had to admit he wasn't quite as frightening as he'd seemed on the way home from the off-licence. His eyes did look pretty big, but there wasn't really too much wrong with his ears (if you liked that sort of thing) and he didn't look capable of biting anyone.

Zoe looked up and down. "Cal, you look fairly sober. Are you going to stay and help us clean up or are you going to get lost?"

"I'll stay and help," said Cal.

 _Oh, well,_ thought Zoe. _You can't have everything.._

Cal was looking unusually serious. "If I'm going to be a dad, I need to get some practice at looking after babies and the house is full of them." He looked over at Lily and Honey. "Those two, for a start." He walked over to Alicia and let his gaze travel up her bare legs. "Hey, beautiful. Want me to help you take care of those babies?"

"Cal, don't be mean," said Alicia. "Lily's not very well and Honey's had a very stressful night."

Honey got up and walked over to Cal. "I've had a very, very, _very_ stressful night."

"Straight to bed for you then," said Cal.

"Really?" Honey looked delighted.

"Er… not with me," said Cal. "I think the last thing you need is another stressful Knight."

"I don't want to go to bed with you anyway," said Honey. "And I'm telling my dad what you just said."

"Okay," said Cal. "And I'll tell him what you just said."

Honey looked worried. "What did I say?"

"You'll find out if I tell your dad," said Cal.

Zoe looked at Cal for a moment. "Do you know what? I almost like you again."

"The night is young," said Cal.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Can you stop talking about yourself for five seconds?"

"What? I wasn't talking about myself… was I?"

Rita stuck her head into the living room. "Lily, Honey, your dads are here."

Alicia jumped up and went over to them. "Hi, Mr Garcia. Hi, Mr Chao. My name's Alicia and I've been looking after your daughters. I'm afraid Lily isn't very well and Honey is a bit upset, but I'm sure they'll feel better soon."

Mr Garcia held out his arms and Honey ran into them. "It's okay, Honey. It's okay. Your dad's here now. We'll go home and you can tell me what kind of tea to make you and then you can tell me what happened."

Mr Chao stood in front of Lily and shook his head. "I always hoped you would make me proud, Lily. I always believed you would. But now…"

Lily looked devastated. Then she leaned over the bucket and threw up.

Mr Chao sighed heavily. "I'm going to have to tell your mother. I don't want her to feel the shame I'm feeling right now, but I think she has to know what our daughter has become."

Lily followed him out with tears running down her cheeks.

" _I'm_ proud of you, Lily!" Cal called after her. "It's good to try new experiences and you haven't done anything I haven't done."

But Lily didn't seem to hear.

Max came out of the kitchen, wheeling Mercedes in a shopping trolley. Mercedes had spent most of the party at the bottom of Ethan's garden, selling 'sweets'.

"Max, where did you steal that from?" exclaimed Zoe.

"Jack and Jez," said Max. "But I'm not going to tell you what they were using it for."

Mercedes was holding her head. "Never again. Never, ever again."

"Never what again?" said Zoe.

"I'm never putting those tablets in my cider again," said Mercedes. "Worst trip ever. I had this hallucination that I moved in with seven blokes, right, and I did all the housework for them. As if! They were all shorter than me too. Then I must have passed out and I thought I was trapped in a glass box. I hate it when that happens. Then I woke up and Jez was kissing me!"

"It's called the kiss of life," said Max.

"Kiss of death, more like," said Mercedes, as Max wheeled her out of the house.

Cal looked at Zoe. "It looks like Max has already started ejecting the drunks. Dylan, do you think you can give me a hand with Jacob and Ash?"

"If I must," said Dylan, but he turned out to be a very good bouncer - at least when he wasn't talking about 'Benjamina'. "I can't imagine how I failed to notice her before. I hope I won't lose her earring."

Zoe silently fumed because 'Benjamina''s earrings were actually hers, but other than that, she had to admit she was impressed with Dylan. He did as he was told, kept his complaints short, and genuinely didn't care that Ethan wasn't speaking to him.

Zoe decided Lofty could do a lot worse. If she didn't kill Lofty for giving Dylan one of her earrings, he and Dylan would make a great couple.

Ethan spent most of the time running around like a headless chicken, which wasn't any help to anybody, but Robyn wouldn't have been much better, so they'd probably get on very well.

"Ethan, you sit there and let us men handle this," said Cal. "This is no job for babies."

"I'm not a baby!" wailed Ethan.

"No. Course you're not," said Cal, and patted his shoulder. "You sit there and supervise, okay?"

Ethan smiled up at him. Cal sat beside him and ruffled his hair.

"Do you have a nickname, Ethan?" said Cal. "My name's Caleb, but everyone calls me Cal."

Ethan nodded importantly. "My mum calls me Nibbles."

"Nibbles…" Cal didn't quite laugh. "Yeah. It suits you. Have you got a girlfriend, Nibbles?"

Zoe quite enjoyed the alarmed look on Cal's face when Ethan dissolved into tears and threw himself into Cal's arms.

"I wanted Robyn to be my girlfriend!" sobbed Ethan. "But she was going to sleep with Dylan. In my bed!"

Cal was still looking panicky, but he patted Ethan's back quite gently. "I'm sure she wasn't really. Robyn is much too shy to do something like that and I think Dylan's gay. He definitely fancies _me_."

Zoe nearly choked.

"But Dylan's been talking about someone called Benjamina all night," said Ethan. "That doesn't sound like a boy to me. _And_ I saw them kissing."

Zoe enjoyed the look on Cal's face then too. She went over to Ethan and pulled up another chair. "Ethan, I'm afraid there isn't a lot we can do about the TV, but most of us are going to put some money towards paying for a new one. We'll help pay for fixing the window too. Max will board it up for you and he'll give you the name of a window repair service you can call in the morning."

Ethan looked upset. "I don't want to stay here on my own! Cal, will you stay with me?"

"Er… yeah," said Cal. "Why not? Get some babysitting practice in."

"I'm not a baby!" said Ethan.

Cal laughed. "No. Of course you're not, Nibbles. You've had a big, grown-up party and everything! And you've had Robyn in your bed."

"I hate Robyn!" Ethan's eyes filled with tears. "How could she do that? And Dylan's supposed to be my friend."

"Ethan, are you sure something happened between them?" said Zoe. "Because I'm not."

Ethan started to cry again. "Why else would she be waiting for him in my bed?"

Cal hugged Ethan. "I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent explanation. I can't actually think what it might be, but that doesn't mean there isn't one."

Dylan came over, still clutching the mop. "Zoe, does Benjamina really go to our school? How come I haven't seen her before? Ethan, stop crying. It's going to be okay."

Ethan swung round to face him. "How can it be okay when you _stole_ Robyn!"

"Why would I want to steal Robyn?" Dylan looked mystified.

Ethan gives him a tearful glare. "What's wrong with Robyn?"

"Nothing," said Dylan. "She's not my type. You know that. Besides, I thought you hated Robyn."

"I do hate her! Except I don't," sobbed Ethan. "I don't know how I feel. I feel like my heart's broken in two."

Cal patted his shoulder. "I've been there, mate. With Taylor."

"Ethan, listen, I do like Robyn," said Dylan. "I just don't _like_ her."

"Will you two just sort it out?" Zoe's voice sounded loud in the now-quiet house. "Why do I have to do everything? Do I look like a Fairy Godmother? Ethan, stop crying. I don't know how you can bear to be such a baby. Dylan, just _tell_ Ethan why Robyn was in his bed before I tear both your heads off. And as for Benjamina… just use your brain!"


	10. Chapter 10

**X-Sammii-X** , I agree Cal will step up and do his best to be a good father. I hope Lily's dad wasn't really that bad, but he probably was very strict. I just had to put in a brotherly scene for Cal and Ethan, even though they're not brothers! Thank you for your review.

 **westlife4ever80** , thank you for your review. I think Lily's dad would have been very strict from what we know of him and I think her difficulties in letting go and relaxing could be because she was brought up so strictly and taught to work hard above all else.

 **Tanith Panic** , I think it's okay to laugh at threats that aren't genuine. There are a few laws that get broken in this story, but Iain's gun is definitely a toy! It's sensible to think twice about trusting anything Taylor says. Thank you for your review.

* * *

It was break time the following Monday, and Zoe, Lofty and Robyn were sitting in the lunch hall. Zoe was thinking over what had happened at the party and quite enjoying the experience of being able to remember almost every detail. There was nothing that made her cringe too badly either.

Lofty and Robyn, however, didn't look back on the evening with nearly as much pleasure.

"If I see Dylan, I'll die," said Lofty.

"If I see Ethan, _I'll_ die," said Robyn.

"I hope none of you will die if you see me," said a voice, and they looked up to see Max.

Zoe shook her head. "Luckily for you, I'm more robust than these two. But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm glad to see you."

Max laughed. "I didn't expect anything else."

Max was probably the most cheerful person Zoe had seen that day – except possibly for Rita and Iain, who'd gone to the music block to make beautiful music on the piano, and Alicia, who'd just dragged a shocked Lily and a scowling Honey to a table and was treating her two new friends to chocolate muffins.

Jez was flagging in his attempts to cheer up Jack, who still hadn't recovered from having his favourite shirt puked on at the party (the rumour was he'd already presented Ethan with the dry-cleaning bill); Connie was very annoyed she'd been drunk enough to get back with Jacob; and Louise was furious with Ash for 'making up stupid lies' about what they'd done at the party.

As for Ash and Jacob, they weren't at all happy to discover they didn't have girlfriends after all and had spent the morning growling at anyone who looked their way.

Mercedes and Taylor, allegedly, were being treated by Matron Bateman and Big Mac after fighting over Louis – or rather his money. Robyn had heard that Taylor had punched Mercedes in the mouth and Mercedes had stabbed Taylor with a pair of scissors, but this was yet to be confirmed. Louis wasn't at school at all as his dad had decided to send him to a drug rehabilitation centre.

"So those sweets Honey saw Mercedes selling Louis, they must have been drugs!" said Robyn.

"Really?" said Zoe sarcastically. "I never would have guessed. You're so quick, Robyn. You really should-"

She was interrupted by screams.

"Dylan's here!" said Lofty, and tried to hide behind Max. "Tell him I'm not in today."

"Ethan's here!" said Robyn, and disappeared underneath the table. "Tell him I'm dead."

Zoe waved her arms to attract their attention. "Hey, Ethan! Dylan! Over here!"

There was a squeak from under the table, and a moan of terror from Lofty.

"What's wrong?" said Zoe. "How can I pass on your messages if I don't speak to them?" Lofty tried to make a run for it, but Zoe grabbed his arm. "Sit down, Lofty!"

"Hi," said Dylan, when they reached the table. "I'm looking for Benjamina. Is she here today?"

"She is," said Zoe.

"Hey," said Ethan, who'd practically been carried over by Cal. "Um... it doesn't matter." He turned away.

Cal turned him back to face the table. "Ethan would like to know if Robyn is here today."

"No, I'm not!" Robyn reminded Zoe in a loud whisper.

Zoe laughed. "No, of course you're not, Robyn."

"I'll go, then," Ethan said, his voice shaky. "If Robyn doesn't want to see me…"

"Don't be stupid," said Zoe. "Of course she wants to see you. She's been talking about you all day."

Robyn gasped, while Cal patted Ethan's shoulder and said: "There you go, Nibbles! What did I tell you?"

"Dylan, what are you doing?" said Zoe, as her friend stuck his head under the table.

Dylan straightened up. "I was just looking to see if Benjamina's under there too."

Lofty checked his ears were covered.

"Benjamina's not far away," said Zoe.

Max spoke to her softly. "Maybe we should give them some privacy."

"Are you joking?" said Zoe. "Do you seriously expect them to manage without our help?" She looked at Dylan and Ethan. "Will you two stop standing there like a pair of lemons and get on with it!"

"A pair of melons, did you say?" said Cal hopefully.

"In your dreams!" said Zoe.

Cal laughed. "Yes, there are definitely lots of melons in my dreams! Ethan, are you going to stop being a melon, I mean a lemon, and talk to Robyn? Or do I have to do it for you?"

Ethan knelt down and peered under the table. "Robyn? Are you there?"

Robyn looked at him. He didn't look as though he hated her. He looked a little bit worried, but that was all.

"Is it all right if I come in?" said Ethan. "Um… under the table, I mean?"

"Okay," whispered Robyn.

He crawled in beside her. "Hey, Robyn."

"Hey, Ethan." Robyn smiled at him shyly

Ethan smiled back. "Hey, Robyn. I always find you in such unexpected places."

"Do you mind?" said Robyn.

"Of course not," said Ethan. "I like how unusual you are."

"I like how unusual you are too."

"Really?" said Ethan.

"Really," said Robyn.

"Oh, get on with it," muttered Zoe.

Max smiled. "Zoe. Would this be a good time to point out patience is a virtue?"

"No, Max, it wouldn't."

"Then I won't mention it," said Max.

"Come on, Nibbles! You can do this!" said Cal.

Ethan looked a bit terrified, but he turned to Robyn and asked: "Did you get home okay on Saturday night?"

"Yes, I went to Lofty's," said Robyn. "I mean Benjamina's. No, Lofty's."

Lofty buried his face in his hands.

"Ben, are you all right?" Dylan asked quite anxiously.

"Be quiet, Dylan," said Zoe. "I'm trying to eavesdrop on Robyn and Ethan. Lofty's… got earache, that's all."

"Poor Ben," said Dylan. "Which ear?"

Lofty gulped. He couldn't remember which one had the earring in.

"Perhaps you should go to Matron Bateman," said Dylan.

Lofty couldn't help smiling when he heard the concern in Dylan's voice. He'd have loved to go to Matron with Dylan – or anywhere else he might chose to invite him – but he honestly wasn't sure if he had the strength to stand up. "I'm okay, Dylan. It's not that bad." He finds the courage to meet Dylan's eyes. "But you're really kind."

"Ethan, your parents didn't find out about the party, did they?" said Robyn.

"They did, unfortunately," said Ethan. "I'm grounded for the next month."

Robyn gasped. "Because I broke the chair?"

"No, of course not." Ethan tried to move closer to her but his hand touched her knee. "Sorry." He moved away sharply and hit his hand on a table leg. "Ow!"

"Are you okay?" Robyn grabbed his hand and hit her head. "Ow!"

"Are _you_ okay?" Ethan reached up and touched her blonde streaks.

Max laughed. "Zoe, are _you_ okay?"

"I'm fine," said Zoe. "But if you don't shut up, _you_ might not be."

Max laughed so hard, he nearly fell off his chair. "I'm terrified, Zoe. Absolutely terrified."

Zoe tried not to smile back. "You should be."

"And I am!"

"Are you sure you should have come to school?" Dylan was asking Lofty. "You look very pale."

Lofty wasn't surprised to hear that. But he was surprised by how worried Dylan was. "I'm fine. Please don't worry about me. Just concentrate on finding Benjamina."

"Ben, I'd rather…" Dylan's voice trailed off. "Perhaps you're right. I do really like her."

Lofty couldn't work out if he was happy or sad.

"I think I've got a splinter," said Ethan.

Cal bent down. "Can I see, Nibbles?" He examined Ethan's hand. "No, I think you're okay."

"Maybe we should get out of here," said Robyn. "It does seem quite dangerous."

"No!" Zoe said firmly. "You're not going anywhere until you've kissed. At the very least."

" _Zoe_!" That was Max's voice. "You'll traumatise them."

"All right, as you're innocents, I'll let you off with a hug."

Cal reached under the table to pat Ethan's arm. "Remember: you're Nibbles and you're a catch."

"And you're Caleb and you're embarrassing me," said Ethan.

Cal laughed. "Okay. I'll leave you to it. But I'm here if you need any help." He stood up.

Ethan turned back to Robyn. "I didn't get grounded because of the chair. It was more the broken window and the broken TV and the cigarette stains in the carpet."

"I didn't do that, did I?" said Robyn.

Ethan shook his head. "You didn't do anything."

"Except for drinking your drink and breaking your chair and getting in your bed," said Robyn.

"I don't mind," said Ethan. "It was only the bed I minded about, and I don't mind now because Dylan explained. You can drink my drink and break my chair and get in my bed anytime you like as far as I'm concerned. I mean, if you want to."

"Go Nibbles!" said Cal. "He hasn't even asked her out yet and he's asking her to go to bed with him! I've taught him well."

"Cal, I'm sure he didn't mean that," said Zoe. "I'm sure it hasn't even _occurred_ to them it could mean that. But it's a start, I suppose." She nodded towards Alicia, Lily and Honey. "And speaking of going to bed, are you going to get over there and ask her out or what?"

"Which one?" said Cal.

"Whichever one you've been staring at when you weren't busy watching Ethan!" said Zoe impatiently.

"I was staring at all of them," said Cal.

"Then ask them all out," said Dylan. "If you're right about how wonderful you are, I'm sure they'd be happy to share."

Lofty smiled to himself. Dylan said the most outrageous things sometimes. He could be rude and even unkind. But Lofty was sure he was quite caring underneath it all.

"I don't know which one to choose!" said Cal. "Lily's the most beautiful. Alicia's the best company. Honey knows how to do lapdances. They all have qualities."

"In fairy stories, it's always the youngest sister who gets the prince," said Lofty.

"Really?" said Cal. "That doesn't sound fair at all. Who's the oldest?"

Max checked the calendar on his phone. "Lily's the oldest – she's a couple of months older than Alicia and a lot older than Honey."

"But you're not a prince, Cal," said Zoe.

Cal shrugged. "No-one round here is. So I'll have to do." He walked over to Lily's table. "Lily. I'm done with being a bad boy and now all I want is to be a knight in shining armour. So how about you let me carry off on my white charger?"

"No," said Lily shortly.

Ethan made a sound of dismay from under the table. "Why did she say no? Poor Cal!"

"Why no?" said Cal, who wasn't completely successful at hiding his hurt.

"Because you haven't got one," said Lily. "If you asked simply that I go out to dinner with you, it is possible you will get an entirely different answer."

"You better had give him a different answer!" said Ethan fiercely. "Cal's like a big brother to me and no-one upsets my big brother!"

Robyn fell in love with Ethan all over again.

"Okay," said Cal. "Lily, how about we go out for dinner tonight?"

"No," said Lily.

Ethan was so cross, he hit his head again and needed a cuddle from Robyn.

Cal sighed. "But you said…"

"I would love to," said Lily, "but I doubt there will be time tonight. You must apply to my father and he will assign you three riddles. If you answer all correctly, you will be permitted to have dinner with me. If you get them all wrong, you will never speak to me again."

"Oh dear," said Lofty anxiously.

"Don't worry, Ben," said Dylan. "Ethan will help him. Won't you, Ethan?"

"Of course - if he stops me from getting beaten up," said Ethan.


	11. Chapter 11

_This is the final chapter - thank you for all the reviews! I'm so glad this story has been enjoyed at last._

 **X-Sammii-X** , thank you for your review. I'm glad Zoe is like Zoe - she definitely does like to be in charge, as long as she's not the clinical lead! Lily didn't want to reject Cal, but her dad is from some weird fairy tale. Thank you for your review.

 **Guest** , thank you for your review. I'm so happy you're enjoying it. I don't write much Zax, so it was good to give Zoe a starring role in this story! There's more Zax in this chapter.

 **EDSidekick** , I often don't know if I've reviewed or not! It would have been realistic for Zoe to blurt it out, but I wanted the three main storylines to be resolved at the same time. I love the way Cal almost becomes responsible when there's someone to be responsible for, though it doesn't stop him from taking on the Lily challenge! I bet he loves the idea of rescuing her from her crazy father. Thank you for your reviews.

 _Thank you to **Thelasticephoenix** for the favourite._

* * *

"Dylan, where's that earring?" said Zoe.

Dylan opened his hand. "I don't know why I need it. I'm sure I'd know Benjamina the minute I saw her."

Lofty watched as Dylan's fingers stroke the earring. _If only you did…_

"That's _my_ earring," said Zoe, and Lofty looked at her in alarm. Surely she wasn't going to….

"But you're not… I mean…" Dylan looked horrified.

"Don't worry," said Zoe drily. "I'm not Benjamina." She showed Dylan her ears. "I lent Benjamina the earrings. I wasn't exactly thrilled when I found out she'd given one to you."

Lofty hung his head. She still hadn't forgiven him. Giving Dylan the earring had seemed so natural at the time but he'd felt terrible the next morning.

"Maybe I could write your parents a letter," said Robyn. "To say sorry about the chair I mean. And I can always say we broke in to your house. That's how the window got broken."

Ethan smiled but he shook his head. "You're very sweet, Robyn, but you shouldn't lie for me. And Max is going to mend the chair for his coursework."

Zoe looked at Max in surprise. "Are you really?"

"Yeah," said Max. "You could help me if you wanted."

"You won't need any help," said Zoe. She paused. "But maybe I will."

"My parents already knew about the window and the TV," said Ethan. "They're so angry. But I think it was the fact I betrayed their trust that upset them the most." His voice wobbled.

Robyn threw her arms around him. She hurt both her hands and her head again but she hardly noticed. It was nice hugging Ethan. He fit into her arms so well, and she could feel his hair against her cheek, and it felt really nice: all soft and silky and it smelled like pineapples… but then he gave a sob, and she forgot all about his hair. "Don't cry, Ethan!"

"They'll never trust me again," sobbed Ethan. "And I'm costing them so much money."

"Of course they'll trust you," said Robyn. "I'm sure your parents know how sorry you are. And most of us are going to put some money towards the window and the TV."

"I hope you're right," said Ethan. He started stroking her hair. "I've just got to grow up a bit and stop being such a baby. I'm sure I can do that."

"I'm sure you can, Ethan," said Robyn. "I think you're quite grown-up already."

"Do you think I'm maybe, you know, grown-up enough to have a girlfriend?" said Ethan.

Robyn smiled at him shyly. "If you want one."

"So Benjamina's your friend?" Dylan asked Zoe.

"That's right."

Dylan looks at Lofty. "And she's _your_ friend?"

"I – yes, she is," said Lofty. "Yes." Benjamina had allowed him to be close to Dylan for one evening. To dance with him. To hold him. To kiss him. He'd never forget that. If Dylan never spoke to him again, Lofty would still have the memory. And that was because of Benjamina. So she must be his friend in a way.

"It can't be Robyn," said Dylan. "I… what's that slurping noise?"

Lofty was glad it had worked out for Robyn, at least. "I think that's Robyn and Ethan telling us we can let them out now."

"We don't want to come out!" called Robyn.

"We like it under here," said Ethan.

Dylan stood up.

"Where are you going?" said Zoe.

"I just need to check something." Dylan knelt down and put his head under the table. "Ethan, Robyn. Could I interrupt you for one minute?"

Ethan gave Dylan a hesitant smile. "As long as you're not going to tell me you do want to go out with Robyn after all. I mean, I'd understand if you did want to, she's lovely, but…"

"But I already have a boyfriend," said Robyn happily. She turned to look at Ethan, to check he was still there. After all, this sort of thing usually only happened in fairy tales.

"Don't take this the wrong way," said Dylan, "but I need to see Robyn's ears."

Ethan looked at him, alarmed. He swung round sharply and hit his shoulder. "Ow. Do you think Robyn is Benjamina? If Robyn's Benjamina, I might as well kill myself now. It shouldn't be too difficult. It's dangerous under here. Even when I kissed Robyn for the first time, I hurt my nose."

Robyn smiled as she remembered. It was so romantic. "Don't kill yourself, Ethan. We only just got together. And I haven't even got pierced ears."

"Not even one?" said Dylan.

"Not yet," said Robyn. "I'm getting them done for my 15th, but that's not till July. But you can look if you like. Don't worry, Ethan. I don't fancy Dylan one bit and I know I'm not his type."

"I didn't think Benjamina was my type either," said Dylan.

Lofty jumped as Dylan accidentally brushed his leg, but Dylan didn't seem to notice.

At least, that was what Lofty thought. Robyn could see Dylan's face and she _knew_ he'd noticed.

Ethan lifted Robyn's gold-streaked hair gently. "There. No earrings. Can you turn round a bit, Robyn? A bit more? Mind that table leg. There, Dylan, look."

Dylan stared at Robyn's ear. "Well, I'm glad it's not you, Robyn – I would rather Benjamina wasn't my friend's girlfriend – but I don't know who else she could be."

Zoe waited until Dylan had stood up again. "So, I only have _one_ friend, Dylan? Is that what you think?"

"No, I know you've got lots of friends," said Dylan. "But I talked to more people this morning than I have in the last four years and none of them even know any Benjaminas."

Lofty was trembling. He felt someone patting his knee reassuringly. It might have been Robyn or Zoe or, in theory, Ethan or Max. The only person it couldn't be was Dylan. He was too far away.

Dylan looked at the earring for a moment longer. "I don't know who else it could be. It's strange. I didn't even think I liked girls. I don't know why Benjamina's different. Unless Benjamina's really a…" Then he slowly lifted his head until he was looking at Lofty.

Lofty kept his head down. He was shaking so hard, the table was shaking too.

"It's an earthquake!" shouted Robyn and Ethan.

Zoe told them not to be silly. "And Max, if you say one thing about the earth moving…"

"It didn't even _occur_ to me till you mentioned it," said Max.

Dylan was still staring at Lofty. "She's a boy. Benjamina's a boy. So she must be…"

Lofty closed his eyes.

" _Ben_ -jamina," said Dylan.

Lofty opened his eyes and prepared to meet Dylan's horrified gaze.

But Dylan was smiling.

"Can I see?" Dylan's hand was shaking as he pushed Lofty's hair away from his ears. "It's you. It's really you!"

"When did you realise?" said Lofty.

"Just this minute," said Dylan. His hand brushed Lofty's. "I've liked you for such a long time. I haven't looked at anyone else. Apart from Benjamina."

"I've liked you for ages too," said Lofty. "I can't believe this. It's like a dream come true."

"Oh God, spare me the clichés," said Zoe.

"It's like a thunderbolt from heaven," said Max.

"Shut up, Max," snapped Zoe. "Why would heaven send out thunderbolts anyway? I think you might be one of the most annoying people I've ever met."

Max smiled at her. "I bet you wish you'd stayed with Cal now."

Zoe gave a reluctant smile. "Oh come on, Max. You're not _that_ bad."

"I didn't think I was your type at all," said Lofty. "I thought you liked girls."

"I'm really not sure if I do or not," said Dylan. "For about the last six months, there's only been you. When I met Benjamina, I thought I was getting over you at last. But then I saw you and I felt just the same about you."

"Poor Dylan," said Lofty. "You must have been so confused. I thought you didn't look that happy to see me."

"When I saw you, I nearly decided to forget about the earring altogether," said Dylan. "Then I remembered how Benjamina made me feel." He smiled. "But you're the same person. That solves the problem admirably."

Lofty tried to speak. He couldn't. But he knew from the look in Dylan's eyes that he understood.

"Oh, Robyn, I wish I wasn't grounded," said Ethan sadly. "I can't take you out on dates or anything. I mean, if you want to go on dates. It's fine if you don't."

"Of course I want to…" Robyn stopped. Something very interesting was happening under the table. "Ethan! Look!" she shrieked. "Lofty and Dylan are holding hands!"

Lofty looked worried. "It's going to be all over the school by lunchtime."

"Does it matter?" said Zoe. "You've got nothing to be embarrassed about. Those two lunatics under the table have, but not you two. I think you've got the least embarrassing relationship on this whole table."

"I'm not embarrassed about being with Ben," said Dylan. He tightened his hold on Lofty's hand. "But maybe it should be our secret."

Lofty looked up at him. He didn't want it to be a secret. But he knew not everyone would understand. He and Dylan weren't extroverts like Jack and Jez, who really didn't care what anyone said about them as long as they were being talked about. "The most important thing is that we're together," he said.

"I take it back," said Zoe. "You're just as soppy as Robyn and Ethan. You have _every_ reason to be embarrassed."

"Does that mean Lofty and Dylan are boyfriend and boyfriend?" said Ethan. "Just like us?"

"Exactly like us," said Robyn. She cuddled closer to him.

Ethan smiled. "This is the happiest day of my whole life. Including the time my parents bought me a blood pressure monitor for my birthday."

"Aw, Ethan!"

"Oh God. Don't tell me they're going to cry again," said Zoe. "Happy tears are such a cliché."

"If I'd got a new girlfriend," said Max, "I'd be singing in the middle of the street."

"I know," said Zoe. "I haven't blotted that out yet."

"Do you want to blot it out?" said Max.

Zoe considered. "I suppose it would be a mistake to forget the lengths you're prepared to go to."

"That's exactly what I think," said Max.

"So now we're all happy except Zoe," said Robyn. She called out: "But I'm sure you'll find a boyfriend soon, Zoe. Most of the guys in the school fancy you."

" _What_ was that?" said Zoe. "I know you're all very preoccupied with your new relationships at the moment but I thought you might have noticed I already have a boyfriend."

"Who?" said Lofty, looking around. "Not Cal?"

"Of course not!" said Zoe. "I do have some taste, you know!" She smiled. "Not very much, perhaps, but some."

"Who is it then?" asked Robyn.

Zoe sighed. "Well, in case you hadn't noticed, there are more than five people at this table."

"Max?" said Dylan doubtfully.

"Max?" said Lofty hopefully.

"Max?" said Robyn excitedly.

"Max?" Ethan's eyes were big with hurt. "My name's Ethan!"

"Max is the only guy in the school who has the guts to tell me what to do," said Zoe. "Apart from you, Dylan."

"Sometimes she even listens to me," Max said proudly.

"Very occasionally, I even do what he says," said Zoe.

Lofty smiled, and felt brave enough to put his hand in Dylan's. "So now we all have someone."

"If you must state the obvious, Ben, yes," said Dylan, but he was smiling for once.

Max gave Zoe an evil look. "I hope we all live happily ever after."


End file.
